


New Directions

by Selaxes



Series: The Days That Followed [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Adult Situations, Comedy, Drama, F/M, ROmantic Interludes, Romance, Romantic Comedy, romantic situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-05 01:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 59,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13377678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selaxes/pseuds/Selaxes
Summary: Taking place after 'Nothing to Fear', Nick and Judy are comfortably ensconced in their relationship when a question is asked that will change their future. Will it be 'yes' or 'no'?And then there are the families to consider...This is about the fluffiest  thing I've ever written and recommend no sugar while reading.Seriously. I'm not responsible for any diabetes that might be a result of failing to heed my warning!





	1. Chapter 1

Nick Wilde slid through a pile of garbage and other substances that he really didn’t want to think about as he rounded the corner into the alley, his target barely twenty yards ahead of him, the suspect’s loose shirt and jacket both flapping in the wind of the cougar’s passing. Throwing his balance off a little, the fox reached up and tripped the Push-To-Talk button on his radio. “He’s…almost at…the end…of the alley!” Nick said between breaths before dropping his arm back down. His eyes widened slightly as the large cat slowed a little and pulled something out from the back of his pants before skidding to a stop and pointing it at the fox.

With a grunt Nick dove forward as his right paw coming up with his tranquilizer pistol. The sound of the blast was deafening in the confines of the alley and the fox felt something pass between his ears with a Whizzzz! before it impacted with the rear portion of his protective vest. Without even thinking Nick’s finger squeezed the trigger twice, the Pop-Hisss! of the darts he fired in return striking the cougar in the shoulder and chest just as Judy Hopps came around the far corner and put two more darts into the feline’s back and rump.

Before the suspect could rack the slide of the shotgun and draw a bead on the prone fox the potent darts took hold, the mix of soporifics working just a few fractions of a second slower than nerve conduction. The cougar was drifting off into a deep sleep before he was even aware of the impact from the darts. Despite the two hits from the front and two more from the bunny, Judy held her stance, her own tranq pistol steadied in a two-paw grip.

“Nick?!?”

“Clear!” the fox called out as he got to his feet, his own nonlethal weapon staying trained on the cougar until he drew close enough to the suspect to kick the shotgun away. When he nudged the cat there was no response, the maw of the larger mammal open with his tongue lolling out and his eyes closed to mere slits. He would remain so for several hours, plenty of time for the mammal to be transported to the ZPD lockup for processing. By the time Judy drew near, still being cautious which was the way it should be, Nick had high-strength alloy cuffs on the cougar’s wrists. “Call for pick up,” the fox said as he dropped back on his rump and caught his breath while he picked up the scattergun and emptied the shells from the tube and made sure the chamber was clear. “Wolford can carry his fuzzy butt to the cruiser!”

As the bunny made the call Nick pulled a plastic evidence bag from one of the pockets built into his vest and deposited the shells into it before using a thick plastic zip-tie to secure the suspect’s weapon so it couldn’t be reloaded or used without a bit of work and a pair of snips. “He’s on the way with McHorn.” Judy said as she dropped down and began to go through the cougar’s pockets. “What is it with these guys and shotguns?” the bunny groused a moment before she found a little baggie of white and black speckled tablets. 

“What’s with them pointing them at me?” Nick griped as he set the confiscated weapon and ammunition to the side and pulled off his vest to inspect the furrow in the outer fabric that revealed the ballistic material beneath. “Huh. If not for the vest that would have been a kidney at best.”

“Or your spine…or, oh, dead at worst,” Judy said with a frown. She began to pout angrily as she stared at the cougar. “Well, there’s a day off and four days of desk duty while our weapons are confiscated and compared to the darts and we get to enjoy administrative leave.”

Nick grinned as he put his vest back on. “Maybe, but a break after tagging this guy is fine with me. And that’s one less dealer we have to worry about.”

That brought the bunny out of her moment of irritation. “Maybe. So, what is this stuff? They went over the popular street drugs in the Academy, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Nick glanced at the little bag, his grin fading into a frown of disgust. “Hallu.” He felt the urge to plant his foot repeatedly into the perp’s side then realized that it would be more trouble than it was worth no matter how satisfying it would feel. “I’m just cheesed he was trying to sell it to those cubs back there.”

Judy blinked, one ear dropping in curiosity. “What? What’s Hallu?” 

“Refined ergot,” Wolford said as he trotted up with McHorn behind him, the rhino like a self propelled mountain. The alley wasn’t all that big but with the white furred wolf and the rhino it seemed claustrophobically tight. “You know, the mold that grows on rye and wheat smut. Works as a powerful hallucinogenic. Cheap and popular with a lot of mammals that want a quick high.”

“And dangerous,” McHorn rumbled as he tucked the cougar up under his left arm as if he weighed no more than a sack of groceries. “If it’s not refined properly it can cause serious brain damage and death. I’ve seen mammals that got bad batches and I’m not sure which is worse.” The rhino punched a dumpster and put a sizeable dent into the side and stirred a cloud of flies out of the garbage container. “I hate Hallu! And I hate the mammals that push the stuff!”

“Hey, if you want to accidently bounce his head off that dumpster, I won’t complain,” Nick said as his normally smarmy grin slowly returned. “He shot at me so I’m feeling a bit less than generous right about now.”

Wolford replaced his radio’s mike back on the clip at his left shoulder after calling in to dispatch that the suspect had been apprehended and cocked a lopsided grin at the fox. “What is it with you and bad mammals packing shotguns?”

“They’re just jealous of my awesomeness,” Nick replied as he stood and placed his paws on his hips in a heroic pose, the sunglasses that hadn’t once moved during the chase catching the afternoon sunlight.

Judy couldn’t help but giggle, knowing the fox had taken stock of the angle of light so that he looked like some kind of TV character and often pulled jokes like that after a chase or takedown. It was a defense mechanism against the terror of just moments before and had the added benefit of making those around him laugh and release residual tension.

“You know, I’d be more convinced if you didn’t have...whatever that is smeared all over you,” the wolf said as he gestured at Nick’s uniform pants and feet. “Whew! Should I tell you what it smells like?” Wolford asked as he waved a paw in front of his nose.

“Oh, I know what it smells like,” Nick said still maintaining the pose. “But it does not detract from my complete awesomeness.”

“Awesome or not,” Judy began as she drew near then stopped, her nose wrinkling as she stuck out her tongue in distaste, “you really do smell. Let’s get back so you can shower up.”

“Awesome trumps smell,” Nick persisted as they exited the alley, the perp’s shotgun hoisted onto his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah,” the bunny said. “Whatever. Hey! Wolford? I’ll trade you a week’s worth of night shifts if you let him ride in your cruiser!”

“No.”

“Two weeks?”

“No.”

“Two weeks and a box of Darby’s Donuts?”

“Nope. I’m immune to your wiles and bribes, little bunny,” the wolf said loftily.

“Darn it,” Judy griped. “We’ll never get that smell out of the cruiser…”

“Seriously, Carrots?” the fox asked with a smirk.

Amethyst eyes turned towards the fox and glinted mischievously. “Keep it up and I’ll make you ride in the trunk.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chief Bogo’s nose wrinkled enough to almost put a permanent sneer on the Cape Buffalo’s face as Hopps and Wilde stood before his desk. “This conversation is being recorded for departmental purposes, do both of you understand that?” he asked in his normal brusque manner.

“Yes, sir,” Judy said as she jerked her chin a little higher.

Nick nodded. “Understood, Chief.”

“Good. Please state your names for the audio recording,” the large bull instructed.

“Officer Judith Laverne Hopps, ZPD.”

“Officer Nicholas Piberius Wilde, Zootopia Police Department.”

Bogo nodded. “State the reason for your report.”

“At eleven forty nine I, Officer Wilde, spotted the suspect, Arthur Ferris of eight nineteen South Pickett Street give a small package to a group of five minors in exchange for cash. When we approached to inquire about the witnessed transaction the suspect fled giving us probable cause for pursuit,” Nick repeated almost word for word his written report. “We gave chase on foot before Officer Hopps took a different route to intercept while I continued to give chase along the same route the suspect took. The suspect attempted to flee through the alley between Ninth Avenue and Thirty First Street when he drew a shotgun and opened fire. My protective vest has been photographed as visual evidence and corroboration. I was able to dive for cover and returned fire, striking the suspect twice. At the same time, unknown to Officer Hopps that I had discharged my weapon, she, too, fired twice, also striking the suspect. As per design the suspect was immediately rendered unconscious and back-up officers McHorn and Wolford took the suspect into custody for transport to central booking for processing and to await trial.”

Bogo nodded again. “Officer Hopps, is this statement true to the best of your knowledge?”

Judy nodded as she spoke. “Yes, sir, it is.”

“Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde, I have your statements recorded and they are now considered property of the Municipality and City of Zootopia and can be accessed at any time as evidence. Is this also understood?”

Both Nick and Judy answered yes and gave each other curious looks for the deviation from standard procedure before turning their eyes back to the Chief.

“Do you also consent to blood, fur and-or saliva samples to be tested for foreign substances, intoxicants, drugs, and-or alcohol?”

Both the officers agreed to which Bogo stepped to Hopps and uncapped the little pen that would use a spring to deliver a small prick to her finger and take a blood sample before it was sealed. She didn’t even wince and Bogo wrote her name and ID number on the tube then showed it to her. “This information regarding your blood sample is correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Judy replied.

Bogo did the same for Nick and had him verbally verify the pen held his blood after Chief Bogo added his name and badge number to the recording before shutting off the device attached to his desk computer. He sighed wearily and rubbed at his head between his eyes. “I’m sorry about that,” the bull told the two cops. “We’re spread thin right now without the numbers to follow the normal procedure of having everything verified by forensics. The DA said that this will do in a pinch at the discretion of the ranking officer and is legal, so I have to go with it. I just can’t afford to have you give me your pistols then bench either of you for the standard period. I just don’t have the mammals to fill in.”

“Wow,” Nick said. “Catch-and-release for us blue suits, huh?”

“Pretty much. I can give you until roll call the day after tomorrow, though. Darting a perp is a little strenuous. It was even worse when the cops in this city carried firearms. Most shootings meant either a dead suspect or a dead cop.” Bogo sneezed and rubbed his nose. “I’m sorry, Wilde. I can’t take the smell of whatever you’ve got all over you. Get showered, get clean clothes, I don’t care in what order, just get out of my office. It’s going to take a week to get the smell out of here!”

Nick and Judy left the office heading for the locker rooms. “I guess most of the cops from the different precincts are going to be pulling election security,” Judy said as other officers passed them on the other side of the hallway.

Nick nodded. “People are pretty worked up after the Night Howler scare. The sheep had their candidate laughed right out of the preliminaries. Now it’s between Deidre MacCalffree and Winston Hartford. I’m still not sure who I’d like to see in office.”

“I thought that after the Howler case you’d want to see a pred in office,” Judy quipped with a half grin as she looked over personal memos on her iCarrot phone.

Nick gave her a look like he’d just tasted the filth on his clothing. “I don’t care if it’s a pred or prey in office, Carrots. I want the one that will actually do what they say and help all the mammals of the city. I’ve seen the good and bad in both. I just want someone we can trust.” 

“Ah, so you’re not voting this term,” the bunny persisted. 

“I didn’t say that,” Nick answered before he stopped, the bunny nearly running into him. “Hey, Carrots? Not to be a downer on whatever you were planning, but I really don’t think you want to come in here,” the fox said as he held up a paw then used it to point at the placard for the males’ locker room. “Or maybe you really do want to…” he continued with a sly grin and waggled his eyebrows at her.

Other officers in the hallway chuckled as Judy looked up from where she was making schedule notes, her eyes widening slightly. “No. I’ve had my laughs for the day. When you’re done can you give me a lift home?”

“Sure. Give me twenty minutes,” Nick said as he put his paw on the door.

Judy shook her head and made a show of holding her nose. “Better make it thirty.”

“Oh. We’re being funny today,” Nick said as he vanished into the locker room. “You’re paying for the gas,” he tossed over his shoulder.

To be completely honest it felt good to strip the uniform off and put it in a bag so it could get washed by itself when he got home. Nick was also glad of the blast of hot water. Not only did it wash the vile crud from his fur but the pummeling from the shower helped release some of the day’s tension. A few minutes in the large dryers the locker room was equipped with and Nicholas Wilde felt like a new fox. A fresh pair of chinos and a dark green pullover that Judy had gotten him to replace his old Hawaiian button down, which she’d claimed as hers, and he was ready to leave.

Sign out was easily handled, Clawhauser having the day off which meant Nick was neither told the latest gossip or grilled for any. The replacement receptionist was a young wolverine who looked up every time the doors opened, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Waiting for something?” the fox asked the wolverine as he put his name on the off duty clipboard and the time.

“Just wondering when the excitement starts,” she said with a smile, her dark brown eyes shining in enthusiasm. “I can’t wait to get out on the streets!”

“Relax…” Nick looked at her name tag, “Higgspaw. It’ll happen soon enough.”

The wolverine nodded and began to arrange and clean the already pristine counter, something that she’d just finished when Nick had approached. It was probably the cleanest the reception area had been since Clawhauser had been assigned to the desk, but it seemed to be as good a way for the fresh out of the Academy wolverine to channel her anticipation.

Nick continued on, making his way out the doors and to the secured parking area that officers were assigned for their personal vehicles. Sure enough, Judy was by the car he’d found and bought just over a month before, waiting on him while looking at her phone. The small car was an Alfalfa Romano convertible. He’d found it decomposing in a junk yard after he and Hopps had chased a suspect into it, the fox seeing it after they’d made their arrest and returned the next day to buy it. It had been nothing but rust and primer on the outside but the undercarriage and suspension had looked decent. For the next five weeks it had moved from shop to shop as Nick used up the last of his favors from mammals around the city to get the car restored. By the time it got back to him it looked like it had just rolled off the showroom floor from fifty five years earlier. New tires, a tuned up engine, new upholstery and glass with a sparkling silvery grey and white paint job had turned the little sports car into a head turner.

As he drew near Nick had to pause for a moment and take in the sight. He was fond of his car, but it was Judy who really made the two-seater Alfalfa really shine. She’d foregone her normal off duty attire of jeans and a flannel shirt for a sundress and had a gauzy scarf loosely wrapped around her head and neck with the sunglasses that he’d gotten her that were similar to his but with decidedly more feminine style. It looked like one of the ads for the car from way back. He couldn’t help but pause for a moment and take a quick picture with his phone. It was enough to get the bunny’s attention.

“You look better than you did,” Judy commented with a smile as the fox drew near. “And you definitely smell better. At least we can ride with the top down just for fun instead of necessity.”

Nick couldn’t help the sardonic look he gave her. “And just for that I might decide to leave the top up,” he told her.

“No! C’mon!” she pleaded. “Don’t be that way. I was only teasing.”

Nick had discovered that Judy loved to ride around with the top of the car down and thrilled with the wind rushing over her head and through her fur, her ears blown back. The only thing that Nick was reluctant to do was let Judy drive the car. She was a deft paw with the cruisers ZPD used, but he wasn’t sure if she could operate a stick shift. “Well…okay. Since you begged so nicely,” the fox told her as he opened the door and reached in for the roof latches and folded the collapsible fabric and frame top back and into the small nook between the seats and the trunk.

Judy could only grin in reply as she got into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. When Nick got in and took his time getting out the keys and then made a show of adjusting the mirrors it was almost like the bunny was going to explode in anticipation and muttered a soft, “C’mon! C’monc’monc’mon!” while thumping her right foot rapidly on the floor board. When he finally turned the key the engine came to life with a smooth growl and a tap of the accelerator made the little car snarl. The fox could see Judy’s reaction as her grin broadened and her paw tightened on the armrest.

“Carrots? Are you having a…a moment?” Nick asked in surprised intrigue. He’d only seen her act like this when they were intimate and it was a little disconcerting while also being fascinating. “Oh, sweet berries,” he muttered. “Are you one of those?”

“I’ve always loved classic cars,” the bunny said with a caress to the dash that had finally been stripped and polished with a new wood inlay put in the previous week. “But I’m not having a…a moment!” She was still smiling as Nick put the car in gear and drove out of the lot, pausing to see if there was traffic then pulled out onto the street. Within minutes they were on the city expressway. “What I want to know is why you picked these colors?” Judy asked once she’d had her fill of wind rushing past. “Wouldn’t red have been better? Or blue even?”

“I like these colors.”

“But…Nick, they aren’t right for this car! It should have flair!” she stroked the dash again. “It should say ‘Hey! Look at me!’ This is kind of…well…drab.”

Behind his own sunglasses Nick just raised an eyebrow. “Drab, Carrots? Really?”

“Um…yeah?”

The fox nodded. “There was a very good reason I chose these colors.”

“Tell me,” the bunny asked as she turned a little in her seat to face him, her ears happily flopping in the breeze.

The fox grinned and tapped the turn signal to change lanes. “What color is the car?”

“Um, grey with a little white,” Judy offered in curiosity.

“Who do I love?”

“Me!”

“And what colors are you?”

Judy was about to answer when it finally dawned on her why Nick had the car painted in those particular colors and the smile that split her short muzzle was one of stunned delight. “That’s so sweet of you!” the bunny gushed, making a small sound of delight when Nick took her paw and kissed it before placing it on the knob of the shifter, his own paw covering both. 

“You see? There’s always a reason for the things I do.”

Judy leaned her head against his shoulder before looking at where they were. “Um, Nick? We missed our turn.”

“We didn’t miss it,” the fox said simply. “I was planning on doing this after work anyway, and after our day the schedule got moved up a little. That’s all.”

“But we’re headed for the Meadowlands. Home’s in the other direction.”

Nick shook his head. “We aren’t going home yet.” 

Once the fox turned off the expressway it was easy for Judy to figure out where they were headed and a thrill ran through her. “The Gardens? We’re really going to the Botanical Gardens?!?”

“I thought it would be a nice way to end the day.”

Nick had learned that while Judy might not have wanted to be a farmer she still enjoyed growing things and plants of all kinds and after a date of sorts to the Zootopia Botanical Gardens he’d found one of the places that she would always be excited to visit. It was late enough in the afternoon that they wouldn’t have to wait too long for a spectacular sunset, one of Nick’s favorite times of day. With a deft turn of the wheel and downshift, the fox turned the car onto the road of the entrance, the gently snaking ribbon that led to the center of the Gardens allowing him to have a little fun with driving.

Nick had studied the layout intensely and found the perfect spot that they hadn’t visited yet, a full tour of the park requiring a good month, and kept going despite Judy’s requests to stop so she could look at different plants. He finally found parking lot 4A, a small gravel patch with split log bumpers to keep over enthusiastic visitors from rolling onto the grass and parked. As the engine ticked and cooled, Judy looked around with wide-eyed delight at both familiar things and plants that she’d never seen before and bounded out of the car. One of the bunny’s favorite plants was the butterfly bush, liking the small fragrant flowers that all but exploded from the delicate shrubs. The one she ran to and plunged her face in, drinking deep the subtle sweet scent of the blossoms, lived up to its name and as butterflies swirled around the bunny, her intrusion disturbing them before they engulfed Judy in a cloud of vibrant colors that caused her to laugh musically as she was tickled by dozens of delicate wings.

After putting the roof up he stepped up to the small trunk and pulled out a cooler and rolled up blanket, Nick couldn’t help but smile with warmth filling him at the glimpse into what his bunny must have been like when she was younger. He hoped that she never lost this element of joy. It was this facet of Judy that had helped him, had enabled Nick to find his own sense of wonder and happiness. It was seeing things like this from the bunny that had rekindled his belief in love.

“What’s that?” Judy asked as she flounced back to the car, a delighted expression on her face.

“Just a little picnic. I was going to bring you up here after work anyway. The early day just means we get to spend more time here than I’d originally thought.” Nick closed the trunk and nodded in the direction of one of the paths. “We want the trail second to the left.”

“Do you want help with that?” the bunny asked pointing at his burden.

“I can manage.”

Judy smiled warmly as she drew close and stood on her toes to give the fox a kiss to the side of his muzzle. “You can, but if you let me carry the blanket I can hold your paw.”

“Smart bunny,” he said as he handed her the rolled up cloth then took her paw, his fingers lacing with hers and headed towards the path he wanted, his study of the Botanical Gardens showing him the best way to get to where he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And let the fluff begin!


	3. Chapter 3

Judy lay on the blanket with her head resting on Nick’s thigh as he fed her another slice of fruit from the bowl of sweet tidbits he’d cut up the night before, the bunny playfully sucking the juice that clung to his finger pads, her tongue teasing the tip of his claw. “You are completely naughty,” the fox said with a smile, his emerald green eyes half closed.

“You make me this way,” the bunny replied and stretched a little, enjoying the way the fox’s gaze drank in the sight of her. In honesty Judy enjoyed the way Nick looked at her, how he tried to act like he was ignorant of her flirtations as he was always the gentlefox for her. Judy had never had any of the bunnies she dated back in Bunnyburrow treat her this way. It had been fairly obvious what they’d been interested in, but Nick made her feel special. The fox regarded her as a complete equal and showed that he valued her in a thousand little ways. Whether it was his attempts to learn how to cook, especially the foods she liked, or getting up a little earlier in the morning, a monumental task for Nick, just so he could wake her up with a cup of coffee made just the way she liked it. Nick didn’t just tell her he loved her, he demonstrated it.

Then there was this surprise trip to the Gardens. Judy loved this place, never having dreamed anything like it existed while growing up in Bunnyburrow. Flowers and orchids and plants from all over the world were here for the mammals of the city to enjoy. For the bunny it was a place of complete peace where all of the stresses of the day could be forgotten, and this particular spot was now her absolute favorite. Nick had found a secluded little nook that had a small pond full of brightly colored fish with a thin waterfall that splashed musically into the pool. It was like a little piece of heaven and he found it just for her!

As she looked up into his eyes she saw that they had darkened slightly as if reflecting the verdant paradise around them and caused her chest to tighten at the swell of emotions. When his paw touched the side of her head Judy’s only recourse was to sigh as her eyes closed and she nuzzled her cheek into the warm, gentle strength of his palm and finger pads as her own paw took his wrist. “I could stay here forever,” she whispered. Her complete relaxation came from the setting, the light snack and two glasses of sparkling blueberry wine she’d had and the feel of her fox with her. Life didn’t seem like it could get any better.

“That would be nice,” Nick told her softly. He looked around and saw that the sky had started to turn with the nearing of the sunset, the blue of earlier being replaced with a rose hue while the puffball clouds had turned a shade of lavender with magenta highlights. “This little outing isn’t over, though.”

“Oh?” Judy asked as she opened her eyes and smiled up at the fox. “There’s more?”

“Definitely,” Nick replied and shifted a little. “I found a box of my parents’ stuff a few weeks ago that had been in storage for years. In fact, I’d forgotten about it. Too much history in it, I guess. But there were some things in there that were important. One of those things is something that I’d like to give you…” His voice trailed off and there was an odd tilt to it, a mix of bittersweet joy, which caused Judy to sit up. “It belonged to my mother and was given to her by her mother, and her mother before her. I thought I’d keep it in the family…”

The bunny watched as her fox slipped a small box from his pocket and opened it, offering it to Judy with a slight tremble to his paw. When her glance fell upon what was inside, the bunny felt her body constrict as her breath caught almost painfully in her throat. Resting on a tiny cushion of black velvet sat a ring of red gold, the band twisted from different strands of the metal before flaring out into a pair of heart shaped leaves that twined around each other. In the center of the leaves was an amethyst cabochon that Judy automatically knew were the same color as her eyes.

“The stone was missing so I had it replaced,” Nick told her, his tone as delicate and fragile sounding as spun glass. “I know I’m just a dumb fox and that on top of everything else I’m a pred, but I swear I will love you the rest of your days. I…I can’t think of where I’d be if it weren’t for you. All I know is that I love you, Judith Laverne Hopps, and I would be the most blessed fox ever born if you would be my wife.” He looked up and blinked his large green eyes slowly as his throat worked to swallow the lump that had formed back down. “Judy, will you marry me?”

Her paws shot to her muzzle as her ears snapped back against her head and down her back in shock while Judy’s eyes grew large in disbelief. Inside she was a roil of emotions that were tainted heavily with fear and doubt. Her heart skipped a beat and when it resumed it pounded in her chest like a hammer. The bunny looked up from the ring into the fox’s eyes and saw the fear and hope dancing within him before she dropped her gaze back to the ring that was illuminated by a thin stream of light from the setting sun, both the red gold and the stone flaring with something that pulsed almost like it had a life of its own.

Time slowed for the bunny, and Judy saw a multitude of possibilities stemming from the moment. Good and bad, joy and tragedy were all possible futures, so many could-be’s that it made her feel faint before swirling away as Judy tried to draw a breath into lungs that felt starved for air. She’d once told Nick that Zootopia was the one place in the world where anyone could be anything. Could they actually build a life as husband and wife when the truth of Zootopia was anything but what she’d once thought it to be? Acceptance would be hard to come by as prejudice was alive and well and there was a darkness that lived under the lights and shiny surfaces.

Finally fighting past the shock, Judy sucked in a deep gasp of air and tried to speak until her throat closed. Tensing to fight past her own body’s reaction to the moment, the bunny tried again.

“N-n-n-n…” she stuttered weakly. Closing her eyes in frustration, Judy tried again. “N-n-nuh…!”

The fox looked at the struggle as Judy fought to give him an answer, his ears lowering as tears began to fall from the bunny’s eyes. He felt the world he’ built and the dreams that he’d dared to have start to crack and splinter.

Judy summoned all of her strength and tried one last time to speak. “Nuh-NICK!” she all but screamed. “Yes! Y-YES!” as she finally spoke the words that she wanted to say. With the answer the tension left and she sagged forward with a deep, ragged sob as she reached out for the fox to catch her, Nick’s arms there and wrapping around her with tender strength, the same strength that she’d depended upon since their paths had crossed.

As Nick pulled her to him, Judy cried with a feeling like coming home after a long, lonely ordeal and latched onto his solidity with passionate fervor. She buried her face into the fur of his neck and shoulder and cried like she never had before.

“Yes, my Nick! Yes!” she whispered hoarsely. “I want to be your wife! Yesyesyes!”

As she gave Nick her answer, Judy felt all the doubt and fear melt away like fog in the morning sun. It wouldn’t be easy and they’d meet resistance and prejudice at every turn, but they’d face it together. And as long as they were together the bunny felt they could stand against the world. She pulled back just enough to cup Nick’s face between her paws and kissed her fox deeply, bathing in the warmth that she felt from him, the warmth that reached out from the very core of her soul and combined with his to wrap them together in a surge of love that was breathtaking. When she opened her eyes to look at him she found his expression one of dazed wonder and an affection that was limitless. Judy held her paw out so that Nick could slip the ring onto her finger, both of them trembling slightly and a little surprised that the delicate gold band was a perfect fit.

“We don’t have to go to work tomorrow. Let’s go to City Hall,” Judy whispered as she looked at the ring on her finger and relishing the way the red gold contrasted with her silvery grey fur. “I don’t want to wait.”

Nick jerked slightly. “But…don’t you…don’t you want a real wedding?” he asked. “A…a gown and your family…?”

Judy shook her head slowly. “This is for us. We can have another ceremony later. If they were still open I’d say let’s go now. I…I’ve wanted this since we told each other how we felt. I love you, Nicholas Piberius Wilde, and the sooner I become your wife, the happier I’ll be.”

It was Nick that kissed her then, his arms holding her tight as she pressed her body against his. When they finally parted for a breath Judy looked around, her ears snapping erect as she scanned their little hollow before turning back to the fox. 

“There’s no one around,” she pointed out.

“It’s, uh, the middle of the week,” Nick told her in a quiet voice, a quizzical expression on his vulpine face. 

“Then it’s perfect,” Judy said as she pulled back a little further and let the shoulders of her sundress slip down her arms. “Make love to me…” she husked as she sat back on the blanket, one paw tugging with insistence on his as she pulled him to her, the bunny’s amethyst eyes lit from within as they filled with love and desire. 

There was no more perfect moment or place, the dark hollow almost otherworldly and colored with flowers and blooms of lush plants, the blanket on the soft grass, the waterfall that splashed merrily in the pond. As they helped the other disrobe it was like the first time they’d made love, the moment ripe with sweet tenderness and wonder that was added to with a pleasure unlike anything the fox or bunny had known before. Frogs began to sing lustily in the growing twilight and as they reached the pinnacle of their passions together and returned to the real world around them they found themselves in a sea of stars as fireflies danced around their joined bodies.

Judy sighed as she stretched out under her betrothed, enjoying the way her silken fur rubbed against her fox’s, his coarse outer guard hairs that hid the oh-so soft undercoat mingling with hers like a full body brush that left her tingling over every inch. The moment was too perfect and that what they did was truly an act of love for the other only made it that much more delicious and decadent. Nick looked at her with awe and she was aware that he wasn’t sated yet and availed herself to him.

“Again,” Judy whispered with a giggle and ran the soft pads of her fingers and palms through the fur of his chest as she lifted her head far enough to rub noses with Nick. “Take me there again…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the fluffs...the unholy amount of fluffs!!!
> 
> Well, and a dash of naughty goodness... =^.^=


	4. Chapter 4

Nick was the first to awake, a glance at the bedside clock showing that it was a little past six thirty, almost an hour past their usual wake up time. It was odd that he didn’t really recall getting home. Then again, with the life changing event of the previous night and the height of emotions from both he and Judy it was understandable. He took a moment to luxuriate in the warm bed with the greatest joy he’d ever known in his arms. 

At some point in the night Judy had slid from lying on his upper body to the bed, one of her paws under her cheek as she slept away, a smile on her face as Nick spooned behind her, his tail thrown over her hip with her other paw loosely gripping the thick brush of coppery brown fur to her. He nuzzled her neck from behind, a contented sigh escaping the bunny as she nestled further into the hollow of the fox’s body. When he tried to pull his tail out of her grasp she whimpered in protest but didn’t wake. After his caudal appendage was free he slowly slid off the bed and padded to the bathroom to take care of business, then the kitchen after washing his paws.

The coffee pot had been set the night before and with the automatic timer feature there was already a carafe full of aromatic brew waiting. There was still plenty of time before he needed to wake Judy so they could make it to City Hall for a marriage license as soon as the office opened and he fixed a cup for himself, sipping from the mug with a bunny emoji on one side and a carrot on the other that she’d gotten him. It was only fair as he’d bought his rabbit lover one with a stylized fox on it. As he sipped and woke up Nick looked out the window of the apartment towards the east where the sun was making its debut for the day, the clouds blotches of pastel colors in an orange-pink sky that matched his mood. Maybe it was the events of the previous night, but the world seemed lighter and brighter and full of infinite promise.

Tearing himself away from the display of color, Nick got Judy’s cup and added the mix of creamers that she enjoyed, the flavor a blend of vanilla-caramel and hazelnut. He topped it off with a half teaspoon of sugar and went back into the room. The bunny hadn’t shifted at all and must have been having a good dream. Whenever her dreams were good her right foot would twitch slightly in rhythm with her breathing. If she were having a bad dream it would almost vibrate with her distress. 

Today was a good dream, and he hated waking her from it but if he didn’t she’d be more than a little peeved. Nick knelt down next to the bed and held the cup up before blowing gently over the rim, directing the aroma to Judy. He smiled as her little pink triangle of a nose twitched and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile. She lifted her head sniffing the air redolent with the steaming coffee and moved closer before opening her eyes.

“Good morning, angel bunny,” Nick told her softly.

“It surely is,” she said as she gently moved the cup out of the way and pressed her muzzle to his. “Good morning to you, my lovely fox.”

“Here,” Nick said as he put the cup on the nightstand and helped Judy to sit up. “Plenty of time to enjoy your coffee but we can’t take too long or we’ll get stuck in morning traffic.”

“Aww. But I was having the best dream,” the bunny said as she sat on the bed, as unconcerned with being clad only in her fur as Nick was. She took a long, appreciative sip from her cup and hummed with pleasure.

“It must have been good,” the fox said as he began to lay out clothes for the day. “You were doing the foot tap.”

“Oh, it was!” she said and cradled the mug to her. “You know I didn’t have the best prom back in Bunnyburrow. The guy that took me only did it to make another bunny jealous. I didn’t get to dance much and left early. In my dream, though, it was you who asked me and all the girls were so jealous! Then at the end of the night you kissed me and we wound up under the big oak tree at my parents’ farm and I gave you my virginity and you made love to me for hours! Best dream ever!” Judy sat with her legs drawn up, arms resting on her knees as she watched Nick. “You were such a good dancer…”

“Now I know it was a dream,” he said with a grin. “I’m a terrible dancer.”

“You are not!” the bunny exclaimed. “We’ve been dancing. I know what you can do. Especially with a good slow dance.”

Nick smiled as he leaned over the bed and gave the bunny a quick kiss. “Meh. You’re giving me too much credit, Carrots. As soon as you get that coffee down you might want to shower up. You said you wanted the jeans and blue top?”

“Yeah. They’re good enough if we want to go somewhere nice for lunch when we’re done at City Hall and DMV.” Judy set the mug down and rolled off the bed, stretching so that she stood on her toes, smiling as her fox paused to watch, a bemused expression on his face. “Just think, after today this is all yours forever and ever!” the bunny giggled warmly.  
Nick could only nod with a barely articulate, “Uh-huh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say note-wise, so let's get on to the next chapter, shall we?


	5. Chapter 5

The clerk at the license counter looked up sleepily, the sugar glider acting as if she’d had a late night of it and yawned as Nick and Judy approached. The doors had just been unlocked and the fox and bunny were not only the first applicants of the day, but the only ones at the moment. Judy pointed at the ticket dispenser. “Do we really need to take a number?” she asked as she looked around the empty waiting area.

“Depends on what kind of license are you applying for today,” the clerk asked in a bored tone as she picked up a disposable paper cup of coffee. “Business licenses are two doors down, restaurant licenses and permits are next door. Vendors licenses are on the other side of the hallway.”

“We’re here for a marriage license,” the bunny said with a smile as she took Nick’s paw.

The sugar glider choked on the sip of coffee and almost dropped her cup as she looked at the bunny and fox then lifted her red plastic framed glasses. “Marriage license? Are…are you sure? I mean…you’re…and he’s…”

“Rabbit and fox,” Nick said as he put an elbow on the countertop. “Oddly enough we’re well aware of this. Now, about that license?”

The clerk sputtered and shuffled papers behind the counter without really looking for anything as she tried to get over her shock. “I…I don’t know…I mean prey and pred! That’s just not…”

Nick leaned closer to the counter and looked at the clerk before glancing at the name plate that sat in an aluminum holder. “Clarice Samson, huh. Can I call you Clarice?” the fox asked, the sugar glider nodding mutely with her mouth hanging open. “Okay, Clarice. Now, we know that this is rather unorthodox, but we’ve researched the matter and believe it or not, there are absolutely no laws against this. To deny any mammals the choice to get married so long as the partnership is a mutual agreement, is a violation of mammal rights. And as the lady here and I are very much in mutual agreement, we would like to be issued a wedding license and then shown forthwith to the Justice of the Peace.

“Close your mouth, Clarice, it’s not very becoming,” Nick said as he was in full street con mode and Judy held her paws to her muzzle to keep from laughing. “As I was saying, we’re both gainfully employed, we love each other, no, we aren’t drunk or on drugs, and would really like that license. That’s it, reaching for the forms now, Clarice,” the fox continued. “Clarice? Clarice. Focus,” the fox directed as he snapped his fingers. “Forms Clarice.”

The sugar glider simply stared before turning a completely scandalized face towards Judy. “You’re going to marry a...a predator?” she inquired, the word spat out as if it were a particularly strong swear word.

Judy fished in her back pocket for the thin wallet that held a duplicate of her badge for when she was off duty but still might need to identify herself as a police officer. Nick pulled his out as well. “Ma’am, I don’t think that your tone is in accordance with legislature passed this year regarding slanderous and bigoted behavior from individuals holding positions of public trust in regards to mammals regardless of their being prey or predator, gender, marital preferences or personal spiritual beliefs. Now, are we going to get those forms or are we going to have to place you under arrest for discrimination.”

When the sugar glider looked at Nick and the badge that he presented he simply shrugged and smiled. “I’d do as she says. This is a touchy subject with her,” he offered with his smarmiest grin.

The forms appeared so quickly that it was like they materialized out of thin air. Without saying a word Nick and Judy retreated to a set of chairs with pens and clipboards to fill them out while Clarice the clerk continued to stare in shock. As for Nick and Judy, they ignored the clerk once they got the paperwork to fill out.

“So,” Nick said as he neared the end of the form after just a few minutes of filling out spaces, “what do we do about last names? I can take yours if you want me-“

Judy held up her form with a grin, waiting until her fox saw what she’d written into the space that was available for her new surname.

“Hopps-Wilde?” he asked with a catch in his voice.

“Well, it sounds sort of daring, don’t you think? Officer Judy Hopps-Wilde! Besides, Wilde-Hopps would make me sound like a stripper,” Judy pointed out. She touched his arm and gave him a warm look. “I want your name, dumb fox. And one day…somehow, we’re going to have kits. I want them to have your name as well.”

With a strange smile, Nick let Judy lead him back to the counter where they turned in the forms and paid the fee, the fox putting the charge on his bank card. “Now what?” Judy asked. “I’ve never done this before.”

The clerk had started to get over her shock, though she continued to eye the fox with mistrust and the bunny as if she were expecting Judy to be an entrée before the day was out. “Judge Owen Shaw will take care of that. Thr-through that door and have a seat,” Clarice said as she pointed to a plain door to the right of the counter after placing a stamp on the forms and putting them in a basket.

Nick and Judy didn’t have long to wait, not even getting a chance to take seats before an aged tiger, his muzzle mostly silvery white with his orange and black stripes looking lackluster as if they were sun-faded came out to greet them. He smiled at the young couple and waved them to a smaller room, his steps slow and his back slightly hunched as he plodded along with the help of a sturdy cane. “So you’re the ones that have Miss Samson all a-flutter,” he cackled gleefully in a voice that was almost as deep as Chief Bogo’s while he gingerly took a seat in a thick padded chair behind an antique wooden desk. “Poor Clarice has just had her sensibilities challenged, which is good. I’ve seen enough prejudice in this city. It’s time for it to end. That and I don’t get to officiate the marriages of many celebrities.”

Nick and Judy looked at each other in confusion. “Sir?” Judy asked as she moved a little closer to the fox. “Do you know us?”

“Indeed I do, Officer Hopps,” the tiger looked at Nick and inclined his head, “Officer Wilde.”

“How do you know us?” Nick asked in surprise. “Uh, your Honor?”

The tiger laughed, a rich, deep, rumbling sound that was almost part purr. “I don’t think there’s a judge within five hundred miles of Zootopia that hasn’t heard your names. That and I recall the newspaper article with your pictures when it was discovered what Dawn Bellwether was doing. I should have bet money that the two of you would wind up in here. Any one that saw how you two were looking at each other and had the common sense of a rock could see that there was a connection.”

Judy and Nick blinked in surprise. Had it been that obvious to anyone but them at the time?

“It’s a knack,” the Judge said with another smile and expansive gesture. “I’ve been officiating marriages for the better part of twenty six years. You learn how to read mammals after all that time. Even if they aren’t aware of their own feelings immediately, I can tell. I can also see the unions that are in for hard times. I doubt the two of you will have to worry about that. He won’t step out on you, Officer Hopps, and she won’t find her eyes wandering to some male that has more muscle than brains, Officer Wilde.” He nodded, confident in his observation. “So, are you actually interested in a ceremony? Something religious maybe? Or perhaps you’d prefer nondenominational?”

“We…uh, really hadn’t thought about that, your Honor,” Judy told the tiger.

“It’s no fret if you don’t want a ceremony at all,” Judge Shaw told them. “Here,” he said and picked up a pen and scribbled a signature on a sheet of paper before tapping the intercom button on his desk phone. “Miss Samson? Could you come get the license and make the normal number of copies and notarize them? Thank you.” Within moments the sugar glider stepped in and padded softly to the desk and grabbed the actual license before retreating and closing the door behind her, her eyes still a bit wide and wild looking. 

“I…I guess we can do without a ceremony,” Judy said. “I know we’ll be having a bit of a to-do when we go visit my family in Bunnyburrow…”

“Then don’t worry about a ceremony today. You love him, don’t you Officer Hopps?”

“Very much so,” the bunny answered as she took Nick’s paw and looked at him with warm eyes.

“And you love her, Officer Wilde?”

“More and more every day, your Honor,” Nick said as he gazed adoringly at Judy.

“Then by the power invested in me by the City and Municipality of Zootopia, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The Judge grinned. “Wasn’t that nice and simple?” He watched as the couple nodded silently. “Well? Go on and kiss her, Officer Wilde. I always enjoy seeing a couple’s first kiss as husband and wife.”

There was no hesitation or embarrassment at kissing in front of a mammal that was, in all honesty, a complete stranger and each raised a paw to caress the face of the other as their muzzles met, the touch of lips, the sharing of breath the first of many as a married couple.

“Excellent,” Judge Shaw said as he clapped his paws together. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some advice to share if you’ll indulge an old tiger that’s seen his share of years, and a few mixed pred-prey couples in that time.”

“You’ve seen others like us?” Judy asked in surprise.

“Oh, yes,” the tiger said as he leaned back in his chair. “There’ve been a few and they were some of the most loving pairings I have ever seen. I think it was because there was more love than anything else and it enabled them to see past the outside. They saw what was in each other’s heart. When you can see what a mammal is on the inside, what they were born as doesn’t really matter, does it? I think knowing that such a thing exists is one of the reasons I volunteered as the Justice of the Peace. It gives me hope that I might save someone from making the same mistake I did.”

Nick and Judy looked at the Judge in curiosity. “What mistake, sir?” the bunny asked softly.

“Oh, it was long ago, but I was in love with a girl that wasn’t a tiger. She was a graceful, beautiful red deer doe. We lived in the same neighborhood and grew up together and I noticed her one morning and thought that it was the first time I was seeing her, I mean really seeing. It was that age when boys start to discover that the fairer sex is fascinating and frightening and all together wonderful. We started to find all sorts of reasons to be near each other and life was magical and beyond description.”

“What happened?” Judy asked when Owen went quiet for several moments.

“The worst thing possible. I listened to my friends and family, she listened to hers, and all of them said that a pred-prey relationship was an affront to nature. We listened to everyone but each other. Eventually she found a buck and married him. I met a tigress while in law school and married her. The doe and I encountered each other many years later and talked over lunch. In that afternoon we discovered that our lives had been the same in that we both had our families, our children and we were with mammals that we loved, but weren’t in love with. Not a day went by that I didn’t think of her and she said the same of me. Forty years of heartbreak because we let others tell us what we could and couldn’t do.”

The Judge looked at the young couple, his orange eyes filled with a pain and sadness that would be there until the day he died.

“Don’t make the mistake that we did. Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t be. And be honest with each other. A moment of fleeting pain in the now is much better than a lifetime of regret. You two have a whole life ahead of you and in that time you will never learn all there is about each other, and that is one of the miracles of love. Each day, your jobs notwithstanding, can be such a grand adventure. Share it. But also don’t be afraid to have separate interests. You are two individuals sharing a life, not some single entity. Embrace the differences the same way you embrace the similarities.”

The tiger smiled warmly as he regarded the fox and bunny.

“And never, ever go to bed angry at each other or about something silly. It doesn’t matter if you have to stay up all night talking it out. If you go to sleep angry it will still be there in the morning and it will plant a little seed that will grow from that point whenever something goes wrong. Before you know it the little garden that you’ve both built together will be dead and weed choked. Talking things out is a lot like weeding. It’s dirty and tiring and there are a hundred other things that would be more fun to be doing, but in the end, if you keep it up, you’ll have that little garden in top shape and it won’t be nearly so hard to keep track of.” The Judge eyed Judy and smiled knowingly as he waggled a claw tipped finger at her. “You’ve been on a farm, my dear. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Judy nodded and smiled shyly. “Yes, sir,” she said softly as her paw squeezed Nick’s.

The sugar glider had come in and dropped off the copies of the marriage certificates while the judge was talking, the copies for Nick and Judy in their own envelope. Judge Shaw held it out to them but didn’t let go as Nick took the end offered to him. “And don’t let those that are prejudiced say you can’t do this. Show them that you can! Show this whole damn city that you can do this and that no matter what they throw at you, you can persevere because you’re together. We need more love in this city. We’ve had enough of fear and hate. You show them. Show them all that there’s a better way.” The tiger let go of the envelope and sat back, the easy smile returning. “Now, you two get out of here. There’s a life of wonderful experiences waiting for you out there. Go find them.”

Nick and Judy stood, both pausing while the bunny looked at her new husband for a moment before turning to the judge. “I…sir, this is going to sound odd, but may I give you a hug?”

Judge Shaw chuckled and held his arms open as he spun his chair. “Do you think an old tiger is going to turn down a hug from a happy young bunny?” Judy bounced to the other side of the desk and threw her arms around the tiger’s neck with a whispered thank you, Judge Shaw acting more like a beloved grandpa than a member of Zootopia’s judicial bench. “Go on now. Get out of here and go find something marvelous.” He shook Nick’s paw before watching them leave his office.

“Well, Mister Wilde,” Judy asked as they headed outside, “what shall we do first?” 

She seemed absolutely radiant to her new husband and Nick couldn’t help but grin at her, the feeling of her next to him, her paw in his and the future set before them. “Whatever your precious heart desires, Missus Hopps-Wilde.”

“Hmmm,” she said in an exaggerated expression of deep contemplation. “I think breakfast at that restaurant you wanted to try, DMV, and then we go home and make love, then have lunch…make love…”

“I’m seeing a trend,” Nick replied with a laugh. “But as your wish is my command…”

Before they got to the parking lot the fox picked up his new wife and spun her about, laughing with boundless delight as the morning sun glinted off her fur and her eyes seemed alight with lavender fire. The moment was as perfect as he could wish it as she threw her head back and laughed with him before clasping his face in both paws and kissing him deeply, both unmindful of the stares until a deep voice brought them out of the moment.

“I can’t wait to hear about this one,” Chief Bogo said with an expression on his face as if he’d just been hit in the back of the head with a board as he watched two of his police officers in a display that made his personal top ten list of unexpected events.

Judy and Nick stopped in place, the bunny still lifted high as the blinked large, surprised eyes like some mammals got when they looked at car headlights. The silence stretched for several moments before the bunny broke the tension.

“Well, carrot sticks…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officially sanctioned fluffses!


	6. Chapter 6

Chief Bogo had spent years as a cop, almost longer in uniform than the bunny Judy had been alive and his eyes had already seen the ring on her finger, guessing what had transpired before meeting the pair at a diner not far from the steps of City Hall. He’d directed the newlyweds to the place before taking care of the business that had brought him out of ZPD’s Precinct One. Now he sat across from them in the back booth that allowed the Cape Buffalo to watch the rest of the Helen’s Hash House with ease. His two officers sat opposite him, their expressions not unlike children expecting a scolding and it was taking all of the bull’s not inconsiderable willpower not to smile. They watched as he lifted his mug up for a sip of what he considered the best coffee in the city, the cup itself what Nick and Judy would’ve considered a large bucket.

“I’d congratulate you, but I don’t care about your personal lives,” Bogo finally said with a frown. “What I do care about is how this effects the way my department is run. I’ve struggled to get it to what it is now and every time I turn around the two of you insist on kicking it as hard as you can to see how long before it breaks!”

Other patrons looked over at the deep, booming voice that had a surly edge to it, Bogo’s sheer volume rattling the window next to the table. When the Cape Buffalo looked up the other diners quickly returned to their breakfasts and coffee, many thinking about being very small if the way their shoulders hunched in were any indication. Judy’s ears were plastered to the back of her head and neck while Nick was simply stunned. He’d thought they’d made their way to the top of the Chief’s police teams and it was almost as if they were fresh out of the Academy rookies again. He opened his mouth to speak when Bogo effectively shut him down.

“Can it, Wilde,” the bull snorted while glaring dangerously at the pair. “There’s only one way around this that I can see.”

‘Oh, no!’ Judy thought to herself as she waited for the worst to happen. ‘He’s going to split us up! We’ll be transferred to different precincts! One of will have to quit!’

“I’m going to go ahead and authorize an additional week of personal leave, not like you don’t have the time off saved up,” Bogo said, his face instantly losing its furious tightness and his voice becoming something that was actually friendly. That alone did more to throw the fox and bunny off balance than anything else he could’ve done. 

The brow scrunched down over Nick’s left eye as he stared at the Chief in confusion while Judy just blinked several times in silence. 

“What?” Bogo asked as he lowered his mug before smiling. “There’s no law against getting married. At least there better not be.”

“Y-you aren’t going to make one of us quit?” the bunny inquired, her fingers loosening a little where they had a vice like grip on Nick’s.

The Cape Buffalo snorted into his mug. “Are you kidding me? You two are one of the most efficient teams in the precinct!” He leaned back with a gleeful expression. “Clawhauser’s going to be furious when he learns that I already knew about this!” he exclaimed while rubbing his hooves together with a mad gleam in his dark eyes. “I’ve finally got the drop on that gossip-monger!” He finally looked at Nick, his large head tilting quizzically. “Wilde?” Bogo asked snapping a finger and thumb in front of the fox. 

“Sorry, Chief,” Nick replied without even flinching. “I was expecting an explosion. Now I’m wondering if there’s a cloud with a lightning bolt coming my way,” he deadpanned. 

“Well, there are stipulations, of course,” the bull said with as smug an expression as Nick ever had as a con artist. “I don’t normally let couples work as partners, but you two are just too good to completely split up. So, I’ll keep both of you on the same schedule, but you’ll have to spend two shifts per week playing babysitter for rookies. They get to learn from experienced cops, you get to stay together for the most part, I get to twist Clawhauser’s shorts into a knot. Everybody wins!” The grin he gave was far too toothy for someone that the young couple was used to seeing with a frown, scowl or in a full blown rage.

“I…I think that’s more than fair,” Judy replied. “Nick?”

The fox was still looking at Bogo as his eyes narrowed. “No. He wants something else. I can tell!”

The Cape Buffalo assumed a patently false expression of innocence. “That hurts, Wilde.” He placed a hoof over his heart. “I’m being perfectly reasonable.”

“What else,” Nick asked, his own face assuming a sly grin as he leaned forward with one elbow resting on the table.

“Well…” Bogo said before mumbling something with a cough thrown in. 

It was Judy’s turn to look at the old bull with a frown. “What? What was that?”

“A public wedding. At the precinct, with Nick in uniform, you in your dress,” the Cape Buffalo said a little more clearly. “The department could use the publicity and you two are already known for taking down Bellwether. The department would spring for it…”

“Catering,” Nick countered. “And none of that garbage from the Yule party! Real food.”

“Done,” Bogo said with a nod.

Nick’s smile turned into a grin. “A wedding cake. Not one of those plastic tasting things. Carrot cake at that. Three tiered with white roses.”

The Chief thought about it and nodded, his normal frown slowly returning. “Fine. A cake, too.”

“A gown for Judy.”

“Now hold on, Wilde!” Bogo complained. “I could put three more officers on the beat for the cost of a wedding gown!”

“She’s a bunny. Small gown,” the fox countered.

Judy watched the exchange like it was a tennis match, offer and counter offer ranging back and forth almost too rapidly to follow. Finally she’d had enough. “Time out you two!” she cried standing on the seat, her paws on her hips as her ears stood erect and she stared both mammals down. “The other things are fine to banter about, but my wedding dress is my choice! I’m not going to have the two of you…haggle and…and barter over me like I’m a bit of property!” She pointed a small finger at the Cape Buffalo. “You can have your little public whatever when we get back, as long as there’s the cake and catering and we get to invite some guests of our choice.” The bunny then turned the same finger on her new husband. “You will be in dress blues and you will be on your best behavior or you won’t be touching this little cottontail for the next six months! Oh. And you’ll damn well be sleeping on the couch! I’ll take care of the dress I’ll be in.” Judy crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at both of them. “Now shake on it,” the bunny demanded.

Bogo and Nick met in the exact middle of the table and shook paw to hoof while they stared at Judy in wide eyed shock and a little trepidation. “Is she always like this?” the Cape Buffalo asked out of the side of his mouth without taking his eyes from the bunny.

“Yup.”

“Now I see how she was able to drop that lion,” Bogo muttered. As he and Nick let go the Chief glanced down at his watch. “Oh, no. Look at the time. Need to get back to the office, you know. Enjoy the time off and congratulations!” he muttered before beating a hasty exit, pausing for a moment to look at a moose that was staring at him with large brown eyes. “What are you looking at?” he grunted before yanking the door open and heading to his personal cruiser.

Judy took her seat and made a show of calmly sipping her coffee. When she turned her head she found Nick still staring at her with something that was a mix of fear and adoration. “What?” she asked with a frown.

A smile began to spread on the fox’s muzzle. “You know, that’s probably the only time that you’ll ever get to yell at the Chief and not get busted back to parking duty.”

“What? I didn’t…I…I did!” she gasped as her paws went to her mouth and her eyes widened before she dropped her head on the table. “Ooooohh…” she groaned. “I am so going to pay for that…”

“It’s okay, Carrots,” Nick said as he rubbed her back in sympathy. “Everyone knows you don’t mess with a bride about her wedding.” The fox then frowned as he cast a sour look at the door Bogo had just left through. “That…” he muttered. “Do you know that Chief Buffalo-butt just stiffed us with the bill?”

“It’s just coffee, Nick,” Judy mumbled from where she was still hiding her face.

The fox frowned as he pulled out his wallet. “It’s more of the principal of the thing. I can’t believe I just got hustled by the Chief…”

Judy sat up and grabbed her cup. “It’s only fair He’s springing for the ceremony.” She downed the last of her coffee and made a gesture for her fox to add more to the tip. “I guess we should go home and pack seeing we’ve got that week off anyway, now.”

“Um, pack for what? Our honeymoon?” Nick asked hopefully as he followed her towards the register. 

He saw the look of distaste on two of the other patrons, the beaver couple looking at him with pronounced frowns as one shook his head. The other beaver was just as scandalized as she muttered, “Dirty fox!” which her companion agreed with. “Taking advantage of that bunny,” the first muttered in agreement. 

Nick shrugged and brushed it off, a little of his old ways coming to the surface as he let an air of indifference and neutrality settle on his features as he wiggled his ears to get the sunglasses perched on top of his head to drop into place as he stepped up to the register and waited for the server to ring up the bill.

“Hold on a sec,” Judy said as she checked her pockets before going back to the table. 

Nick pulled out a ten spot and paid for the coffees as the bunny headed back, pausing by the female beaver to whisper something in her ear. When the beaver jerked, her eyes going wide, Judy pressed on. The other female began shifting on her seat as if she were suddenly uncomfortable while her large brown eyes settled on the fox and she leaned a little to the side to look him up and down slowly. Judy finished up, whatever she said making the beaver gasp with a small sound of surprise as her head whipped around to regard the rabbit. Judy only nodded with a sly grin before making it a point to saunter to where Nick waited, her hips swaying saucily as she wrapped her paws around the fox’s arm and went outside with him.

When they got to the car Nick didn’t bother putting the top down as he started the little Alfalfa up. The bunny regarded him with a sympathetic look. “They got to you, huh?” she asked softly. “I could tell. When the ‘old’ you comes out I know something’s bothering you.”

“A little,” Nick admitted. “I guess I’ll need to get used to it. The sly, shifty fox taking advantage of the sweet, innocent bunny.” He turned to look at his wife, her expression smug as she reached across the center of the car to rest her paw on his leg. “So what did you tell her? Whatever it was had her squirming like she had fleas on her tail.”

“I heard what they said,” Judy replied with a twitch of her long ears. “So I thought that I’d tell her not to knock preds.”

“There was more to it than that,” the fox accused as he pulled onto the street and headed to the DMV.

“Maybe…” the bunny answered in a lilting voice as her grin grew even wider.

“Carrots…” he admonished, smiling slightly and very curious.

Judy’s paw slipped a little higher on her husband’s leg. “I just said that predators can be incredible lovers. Um…maybe I used the term voracious. I told her that the best orgasms I’ve ever had were when I get devoured!”

Nick’s mouth fell open in shock. “You didn’t!”

“Oh, yes I did!” the bunny declared. “Talk about my husband that way…” she grumbled. “I also told her that when you do the feel of your teeth is so erotic that I can’t even scream and that when it came down to that you were a complete savage and I loved it so much that it takes hours for me to walk right again. And…um…I told her ‘Once you go pred, that’s all you want in bed’…”

“Judith Laverne Hopps-Wilde!” Nick chided in feigned indignation, his mouth open in shock. “You are a wicked, wicked bunny!”

“I am,” she agreed with a lusty grin as she leaned over far enough to lick the edge of Nick’s ear. 

The unexpected love play caused him to drift a little into the next line. Fortunately the traffic was very light and the fox was able to avoid an accident.

“But it’s because you make me this way,” she husked in a sultry whisper as her paw shifted a little higher.

Nick checked all the mirrors before suddenly changing lanes and taking the next left. 

“Where are we going?” Judy asked with a hint of confusion as she sat back, though kept her paw where it was.

“Home,” Nick breathed. “DMV can wait and I’m not about to go stand in line in…in my condition.” He got the car turned and tried to sit more comfortably with a frown. “I’d look like a walking tent…”

Judy could only smile in victory as she stretched in the seat, her back arched as she closed her eyes halfway, aware that her husband was watching not just the road but her as well and decided to unbutton her shirt a little more. Teasing him was fun, but it caused her to get a little agitated as well. “You mean you’d take advantage of a sweet bunny like me? I’m just a little cottontail, Mister Fox! Please don’t eat me!” she begged in a playful tone.

Nick grinned in response before turning his head towards her and clicking his front teeth together with small, rapid ‘tictictictic’ noises. He knew that for a lot of prey mammals there was something deep down inside that was still intimidated by the fangs preds had, but with his bunny wife it manifested in a very different way and he smiled in complete, smarmy satisfaction as she gasped with increasing arousal.

Maybe it was the thrill and novelty of being married, but both of them knew that they’d accomplish little else for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. Bogo hustled them good! 
> 
> It's further proof that you just can't outclass age and treachery when it really counts!


	7. Chapter 7

Judy lay on her stomach sprawled in the middle of the bed, her eyes mostly closed as she panted lightly. The sensations that ran through her body were absolute bliss and she doubted that she’d be able to move even if her puff of a tail were set on fire. “You’re too good to me…” she mumbled, the side of her face mashed into the pillow.

Nick chuckled lightly as he gazed at the beauty sprawled before him. As sunlight streaming through the bedroom window landed on her fur making her glow the fox thought the bunny looked like some kind of sculpture fashioned from living silver he used a claw tip to lightly scratch the point just behind her right ear, the result being a rapid twitch of the bunny’s foot. It was one of her sensitive points and Judy’s resulting high moan of pleasure amused him. “So, where are we going, Carrots?” he asked softly.

“Not gonna tell you…” his wife said.

“Oh? You know I have ways of making you talk.”

The bunny snorted.”I’m a cop, Mister Fox. You can torture me all you want. I’m not going to tell you anything!”

Nick hadn’t found anything to put his rabbit mate into a more relaxed state than a full body brushing, with the possible exception of a good foot massage after a long day. He still had pictures of where she’d fallen asleep on the living room couch, drooling lightly with her head thrown back the last time he’d given her a foot rub. He hadn’t told her incase he needed blackmail material at some later date. With a smirk, having learned a number of places that turned Judy on, Nick examined his claws to make sure they weren’t overly sharp. He wanted to torment her, not hurt her.

“Last chance, fluff-butt. Where are we going?” he asked lightly, his smirk turning into a rather wicked grin.

“Nope.”

Without saying anything the fox shifted were he straddled her legs and extended a single finger, touching it the base of her neck and ran the claw through her fur all the way down her spine to the base of her tail. She arched her back and gasped with the result, her head down as she squinted hard in an effort to fight of the surge of sudden desire. Judy loved that her fox could use his predatory attributes on her and she felt completely safe. She’d always found preds to be exotic, afraid to even acknowledge her attraction to the teeth and claws and beauty that they exhibited. As a bunny it was, without a doubt, about the worse kind of perverse kink to have.

And she loved it!

Nick drew a little circle in the fur above the tuft of her short tail and heard the high, thin whine that escaped his wife’s throat, knowing that she was biting her lower lip with an expression of exquisite agony on her lovely face. When she still didn’t speak the fox took both paws and used his claws to gently rake her sides and flanks all the way to her knees, enjoying the view as he loomed above her. All of this was only fair as worked up as Judy got him on the way to the DMV. He’d been in such a dither that he’d driven them straight home and had barely waited to get inside the apartment before getting her clothes off. He was surprised he hadn’t ripped her shirt or jeans…

The fox leaned forward to whisper to her, the process easier as she was still arched upwards. “Then I guess you aren’t leaving me much choice, bunny…” he told her, his breath caressing the edge of her very sensitive ear. Before she could respond to Nick’s mock threat he lipped the edge then nibbled it gently, letting his smaller front teeth tease along the thin rim before moving down to do the same to her neck.

“Oh! Oh…god…” Judy moaned, the attention causing a shudder to run through her with delectable eroticism. “N-N-Nick! Oh…yeeessssss…” 

Her husband knew all of the ways to get her worked up and Judy loved it! She felt him stop for a moment before her entire neck was in his maw and it pulled a loud squeak out of her as she rode the wave of pleasure while feeling his eagerness pressing against her. The bunny always liked it when he made love to her in this position, something about it adding to the taboo of losing her heart to the fox making it seem even more decadent, more fulfilling. She liked the occasional times where he dominated her like he was doing and it made her glad that she was female.

After a timelessness that was all things sensual and delightful it came to a heart-stopping, mind-numbing conclusion that left both of them trembling and oh so satisfied as Judy and Nick both lay on the bed, holding tightly to one another, basking in the lingering bliss and afterglow that making love always left them with. Now, though, it seemed even more special because they joined as husband and wife…as mates.

Judy snuggled into the thick, rich chest fur of her fox, her husband, and breathed deep the wonderful scent that was all Nick. It was stronger than a male bunny’s would be, sweet with a hint of muskiness that spoke to primal parts of her. She loved his fur, the almost rough outer layer that eventually gave way to his downy undercoat. As an added bonus the bunny reached behind him, using what she was doing to caress his lower body and the muscle that he’d built during his Academy days and worked hard to not just maintain but to improve, and grabbed his tail, bringing it over her body and up her back so that he was hugging her with all of him.

“I love you, Nick Wilde,” she whispered as she nuzzled deeper into his chest and along his flat stomach. 

Instead of answering her verbally, Nick tilted his wife’s head up and kissed her deeply, relishing the taste of her as the contact deepened and felt her try to press even harder against him before parting. “I love you, Judy,” he whispered. “My wife…my mate…”

A smile on her short muzzle, Judy snuggled so that her head was under the fox’s chin, his own muzzle resting between her ears. When they lay together like this the bunny always felt safe and protected, able to give in to little chinks of vulnerability that she never showed at work, completely free to do so when she was with her beloved. “I…I guess you’ve earned the right to know where I want us to go…” she whispered, still catching her breath from their romantic interlude of just moments before.

He chuckled, Judy liking the sound and gave him a happy little squeeze. “If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say you’re wanting to go to Bunnyburrow,” Nick murmured.

“Wha…? How did you know?”

The fox smiled and smoothed the fur of her cheek with the back of his fingers and paw. “I remember what it was like to have family, and if my parents were still alive I’d want them to know I was married to the most fantastical, unbelievable, wonderful bunny in the world. And as I’m the most fantastical, unbelievable, wonderful fox in the world it’s only natural you want to tell your parents.”

Judy stuck her tongue out before laughing. “Don’t forget modest!” she joked with another loving hug. “But you’re right. Besides, Mom has my wedding dress. If we’re going to have a big ceremony for Bogo I’m going to need it.”

The fox continued to stroke his wife’s fur, the slightest of frowns tugging at the corners of his mouth as the whiskers on the end of his muzzle twitched back. “So…have you told your parents about us yet?”

The bunny was silent for several seconds before answering in a very small voice. “No…”

“I see,” Nick commented drily. “Do you get to inherit the farm after you give them heart attacks, or do you have to divvie it up with your siblings?” He began to smirk. “Let’s see… There’s you, plus two hundred and seventy five brothers and sisters… We could count grand children but that would give me a headache.” He turned his head a little. “How many acres is the farm and what kind of equipment? A tax deduction of six square inches isn’t much but we can find a loophole…”

“You are a bad fox!” Judy laughed as she playfully slapped his chest. The bunny let the smile slip away after a moment. “I…I should have told them months ago, but…”

“I know,” Nick said as he cradled her against him, his paw stroking the fur of her head and neck. “It’s the kind of news that there just never seems to be a good time for or an easy thing to break on someone you care about.”

The bunny propped her head on her paw, the other tracing patterns in Nick’s fur. “You know, I never would have thought you could be so caring or understanding when I first met you. You really are something else.” Judy gave him a quick kiss in admiration.

“Carrots,” the fox began in a chiding tone, “I have layers of complexity.” He smiled when she simply gave him a look. “Well. I had. Back then I was living by my wits on the street. When a mammal does that they can’t let others see past the defenses. Letting your guard down can get you into a world of hurt.”

“But you let me in,” she observed. Judy liked talking about Nick, learning about his past. She didn’t press it, letting him open up to her a little at a time, but whenever he did, Nick was always honest on forthright.

The fox nodded solemnly. “I did,” he husked. “And it was the best, smartest, most frightening thing I’ve ever done.” He shrugged. “This…this is the real me. The confidence, the smugness…all of that was an act to hide a fox that was afraid and lonely and really wanted to believe in dreams. That wanted to believe in himself…” 

Judy looked at the vulnerability in his emerald eyes and it melted her heart because it was something that he trusted her with implicitly.

“I was lucky to have someone as wonderful as you to show me that I could be myself.” When he turned to her, his heart was there, the love and gratitude and it made the bunny’s heart jump. “The only way that I think things could be anymore perfect is if I were a bunny-“

“Oh, no!” she said and snuggled up again. “I love you just the way you are! I wouldn’t have anything but Nicholas Wilde the fox. And I sure don’t want anything else!”

“Is that so, Carrots?” he inquired with a genuine, warm smile as he squeezed her gently. “It’s a good thing I’ve only got eyes for cute little bunnies, then. Especially ones that are so easy to catch!” He lurched forward and nibbled at Judy’s neck, the sudden love attack and attention to her oh-so sensitive neck and throat pulling a squeal of delighted laughter from the bunny.

“Aiiieeeeeeee! That tickles!” she screeched and tried to fend Nick off until he physically rolled her onto her back and increased his efforts.

“Nick! NIIIICK!” Judy continued as she continued laughing even as her ardor jumped several hundreds of degrees. It seemed that he knew precisely what he was doing and without even thinking about it she accepted him willingly…joyfully… “Oh! Nicholas!” She finally breathed as soon as she could fill her lungs from laughing and the attention of her husband.

Their lovemaking was slow and languorous and beautiful and upon sharing that moment of splendid bliss, Judy discovered that she simply couldn’t take anymore, her eyes heavy as her body seemed to float in a pink haze of affection and warmth and all things sensual. She napped in her mate’s arms, more content, more full of love and joyful delight than she thought was possible for one mammal to feel. Just before sleep fully claimed her, the rabbit heard the words that were whispered in her ear, Nick’s voice thick and tired sounding, but flavored with the same things she felt.

“I love you Judy Hopps-Wilde,” the fox told her, nuzzling the side of her head with a tenderness that most mammals would never knew he possessed. “My lovely bunny wife.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so easy to make these two all sorts of frolicsome and lovey-dovey. Almost too easy...


	8. Chapter 8

The trip to Bunnyburrow was pleasant and Nick was happy that he’d discovered that his darling wife was able to handle the clutch and stick of the little car like a pro. If he hadn’t given in and let Judy drive they would’ve wrecked as the fox was completely mesmerized by the deep, cool, green forests outside of Zootopia, Nick never having been out of the city. The top was down and as they took the little winding road out of the city Judy’s husband couldn’t help but lift his nose into the wind that rushed past, drinking in scents and sights with equal wonder. Even as she grinned at Nick’s reactions, the bunny knew that she’ had the same expression on her own face the first time she’ stepped off the train at Savannah Central Station.

It was understandable when someone experienced something for the first time. As she glanced again at her husband it gave Judy an idea what he must have been like before the Junior Ranger Scout incident and before he gave in to how society saw foxes. He looked almost like a kit, his green eyes taking on almost the same shade as the woods they passed through, his muzzle partially open in a smile of complete wonder…

Like so many things about Nick it caused the bunny’s chest to tighten in a swell of sudden emotion. He’d hidden it, but Nick still had a sense of wonder in him that was so completely innocent and precious. Judy smiled happily as she turned back to the road, mentally adding yet another item on the list of ‘Things I love about my Husband!’, her paw lifting from the shifter to rest on his with the sudden urge to be in contact with him.

It was funny in a way. They’d only known each other for a little over a year, and yet it was as if they’d been made for the other. When she’d first approached him about the missing mammals that led to the Night Howler conspiracy, she’d thought Nick was a smug, selfish jerk. And he had been, but it had all been a sham, a defense. He had layers of walls, as tough and tenacious as any of the brambles she’d had to clear out of the fields on her family’s farm. And sometimes, as she got through them they were just as painful. Then she finally got through only to find that Nick was so much more than what he let show. He was a little broken, but what mammal wasn’t? He didn’t let it stop him, though. He persevered, thriving beyond anything Judy could’ve expected because someone had shown a little faith and belief in him.

Nick became the best friend she’d ever known, quick with a paw to help her, a smile and laugh to cheer her up, and a shoulder and gentle support when Judy couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. She hadn’t realized just how much she relied on Nick until he went away to the Academy, becoming a police officer because he not only wanted to, knowing that he could show the world he was more than what it thought of him, but because Judy had asked him! That day at his graduation from the Academy had been incredible, and she’d been so happy to have her friend back, even more thrilled when he became her partner.

Somewhere along the line, however, he became so much more to her. Just shy of being a full nine months of friendship then fellow police officers he’d taken the hit from the shotgun. It had been birdshot and more of an irritation than anything else, but Judy had nearly had a full blown panic attack. The mere notion of losing Nick had tore the bunny up worse than anything she’d ever dealt with, so much so that on her mad dash to the hospital she’d had to pull over to get physically sick. When she finally got to the fox, her relief at seeing Nick alive, albeit stoned out of his silly mind, was so great that she had wanted to faint.

Then there was later that night, of getting him home to his new apartment. Judy knew where he lived after he moved, but she’d never been inside. Like Nick himself, the apartment had been a surprise, a glimpse into someone that was more complex, far more deep and deeply feeling than he showed to others. She found his paintings and drawings, including the ones he’d done of her. It had been frightening at first until he told her why. His years on the streets had exposed him to things that gave him the occasional nightmare and when they hit he wanted his best friend for a little comfort, just like any other mammal. He was too sweet to actually call her, so he did what he could so that Judy was there when he needed a friendly face.

Of course, if she hadn’t stumbled across the drawings and paintings she wouldn’t have known that Nick was actually quite the artist.

But the morning after that terrifying night, sore and literally full of tiny holes from the shotgun, Nick had spilled his secret and told her what he felt, so afraid that it would destroy their friendship, but unwilling to keep secrets from her. Before he’d made it halfway through his confession, both of them were in tears and when the fox finally told her that he was in love with her, so much clicked into place. Not just from how Nick acted around her, but the feelings that she’d been trying to ignore for so long. Judy realized she’d been in love with the fox ever since they confronted Bellwether in the Zootopia Natural History Museum. He could have left her like she told him to, but Nick had stayed. He could’ve been shot with the Night Howler serum, but the sly fox had replaced it with blueberries. Because of him they’d gotten Bellwether’s confession on her carrot pen that had a small recorder.

Never mind that before all of that he’d stood up to Bogo for her. He hadn’t owed her a thing at that point, especially as they’d almost gotten killed, again, when Mr. Manchas had gone savage from Night Howler serum. Nick had stayed with her, keeping Judy safe and doing more for her than she had a right to ask for or expect.

Looking back, though, it was all worth it! 

No bunny had ever made her feel like Nick did. No previous lover, few that there were, ever made her experience such complete joy like her fox did. She really hadn’t been joking to the beaver back in the diner. She loved her Nick, the fox fulfilling everything she had ever wanted or even needed and then some.

A splash of color in the verdant forest caught Nick’s attention and he watched with rapt fascination as a cardinal flitted from tree to tree, a splash of vibrant red against the dark green and laughed softly in joy. That he could be so enraptured by something that Judy had taken for granted for so long really was endearing. Of course she was also watching him, the way the wind rushing over them riffled his fur and pushed his ears back, the smile on his muzzle, the way he smelled as it mixed with the scent of pine and spruce and oak and occasionally tickled her nose. And that was all it took as she went through the memories of her husband to cause her passions to flare once more. How could she want him again? Poor Nick had to be getting a little sore and tired from her appetites, but he hadn’t slowed yet when the mood took them. If anything each time they made love was as exquisite as the one before, if not more so. 

The she realized why her ardor was so high, her desires set on a hair trigger that the most innocent of looks or touches would set off. What a time for Mother Nature to make a visit! It wasn’t as bad for bunnies as it was for other mammals, Judy not having to worry about certain sanitary details, but it meant that her drives were in high gear. Like a performance engine on nitrous.

With rocket boost. 

And jet fuel…

Rubbing her thighs together as she began to ache with need, Judy wondered if her husband would mind a slight delay only to turn her head, her mouth open and ready to ask and find Nick looking at her with warm green eyes, his sunglasses in his paw.

“Maybe we should pull over and stretch our legs,” he suggested.

Judy whipped her head back around to watch the road for a moment before glancing back at the fox. “How…how did you know?” she asked with astonishment.

He laughed and tapped his muzzle. “Foxes have a very keen sense of smell and having the top down is only adding to everything.” He reached over and caressed her right ear, stroking it between the pads of his finger and thumb.

The bunny gasped as the ache and warmth in her nethers turned into a full blown conflagration of need. Fortunately there was a wide shoulder up ahead that truck drivers used when they needed a break and Judy downshifted expertly as she swung the car into the little turnoff. No sooner did she have the car stopped and the engine turned off than the bunny was across the center console, her muzzle pressed to her fox’s in a deep, impassioned kiss, her paws gripping the sides of his face. “I…I’m sorry…” she mumbled as they parted for a moment. “I don’t know what’s come over me, Nick.”

“It’s okay, Carrots,” he husked back, undoing her seatbelt for her. “Believe me, I don’t mind.”

When both had gotten out of the car they walked paw in paw into the woods until they were well out of sight of the road, Nick having been ahead of Judy in the thought department and bringing the blanket they’d used on their picnic at the Botanical Gardens. As he helped her undress, the fox took the time to snuffle her exposed fur, nipping playfully at all her erogenous zones and driving his wife into near frenzy.

Nick had never really seen woods so deep and lovely, but it didn’t compare with his bunny, finding her incredibly gorgeous in the almost primordial setting, and making love with his mate in the dark forest was erotic beyond imagining. He was feeling the strain just a little and encouraged her to be on top as they celebrated their love not once but twice. Only when she was satisfied did Nick help her dress, pausing every so often for tender touches and caresses. The intimacy was wonderful, but he never wanted her to feel that was all he appreciated her for and tried to show his deep, soul-shaking affection in other ways.

“Hold on,” Nick said softly once Judy was ready to continue and took her by her upper arms and had her face him. “I…I’m a pred…”

“I think I know that!” the bunny giggled before standing on tip toes to kiss his nose then his lips.

“I know you do,” he said with a smile. “But being a fox…well, we…um, we tend to mark our mates…”

“Oooo. I think I like the sound of that,” Judy said with interest. “How do you do it?”

Nick’s ears lowered and flared in a pink hued blush. “Scent.”

The bunny blinked as her mouth lost a little of it’s smile. “Urrr…I’ve…um…I’ve heard how some mammals that kind of follow the old traditions mark things…” she admitted. “You…you aren’t going to…uh…pee on me or something, are you?”

“What?” Nick replied in shock, jerking back a little. “Carrots! That’s disgusting! No!”

She was genuinely curious now and tilted her head quizzically. “How, then?”

“Um…foxes have scent glands here and here,” he said as he pointed to the very back of his cheeks just beneath and behind his ears. “I was…uh…um, wondering if I could mark you. It’s a…well, it’s a very personal thing with foxes. The symbolism can…well, it can be just as important as getting married…”

“Yes!” Judy answered in a breathy squeak, her eyes wide and excited.

“I mean, it’s not like we haven’t been intimate already, but this…well, it’s special. You see, when foxes mate, it’s normally for life…”

Judy wrapped her paws into the fabric of the dark blue short-sleeved button down that the fox wore over a light green T-shirt. “Nicholas Piberius Wilde, I am your wife and mate. Give me your mark. I want everyone to know that I belong to you!”

She could see in his eyes what it meant to him for her to accept yet another aspect of his being a fox and Judy thought that she saw moisture welling up as he looked at her. It had the effect of getting her emotions going.

“Don’t you dare cry,” the bunny whispered. “This is something beautiful and I don’t want to ruin it by crying because you are!”

With a warm smile and matching eyes, Nick cupped her face in his paws with a tender and gentle touch. When he leaned forward the bunny thought it was for a kiss and her eyes started to close when he altered his angle and rubbed the length of the right side of his face along hers before pulling back and doing it again on the left. It felt…odd, but strangely satisfying. As Nick retreated a little she could almost smell his scent on her, the same scent that he normally had, but it was a little different, a little more earthy. Judy’s cheeks tingled and she couldn’t help it when her paw touched the side of her face.

“Now you’re wearing my scent,” he explained to her, his voice soft but thick with emotion. “It’ll wear off over time, but it’ll tell any other foxes that you’re spoken for.”

Judy couldn’t help but smile as she tightened her hold on her husband. “Too right I’m spoken for,” the bunny husked. “How long will it last?”

“A couple of weeks. It’s probably best if you want me to mark you again to do so after you shower.”

Judy raised up for another kiss before helping her fox roll up the blanket. “I guess you’ll need to mark me again when it starts to wear off,” she told her husband as they headed back to the car. “In fact, I think you’ll have to do that at least once a day,” the bunny suggested as the readied themselves to continue their trip to Judy’s childhood home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be honest. Nick is a city fox. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. I liked Judy's reaction in the movie when she got to Zootopia and it was like landing in a strange, incredible and very alien new world that was beyond anything she dreamed of. And I sort of see this with Nick when he leaves the city to travel to Bunnyburrow for the first time. That and I think that Nick and Judy would sort of experience the wonder that the other does.
> 
> Well, at least in my version of their world!


	9. Chapter 9

Nick looked out over the rolling hills of the Bunnyburrow countryside with the same sort of grin he’d had going through the forests outside Zootopia. The landscape was divided into huge squares of green and gold from the different crops while thick hedgerows separated the various fields. Every so often the roof of a barn or the white tower of a grain silo only accentuated the view. The sun was a bit lower on the western horizon than Judy had anticipated, but the two stops that she’ needed for special time with her husband had completely shot the travel schedule all to hell. She was starting to become a little concerned at the way her desires were manifesting and planned on speaking to her mother.  
At least Judy would if she didn’t die from embarrassment first.

If trying to keep up with her rampant libido was taking its toll on her husband, Nick wasn’t showing it. He looked out over the few farms that were visible, what they could see comprising only a fraction of what was actually around them. “Carrots,” he said, his voice low as if to speak any louder would ruin the moment. “It’s beautiful out here!”

“I suppose,” Judy said. “At times it can be a little quiet and a lot boring.”

“I don’t know,” the fox replied. “I could see retiring out here.”

“You’d go nuts within a week!” the bunny teased as she pinched the base of his tail. “Let’s go let everyone know we’re here. We can get the bags later.”

“I can grab them now,” Nick said as he popped the small trunk of the convertible. “It’s not like they’re all that heavy.” 

The fox slung his over his shoulder and reached in for Judy’s as the bunny went to the front door of the house she grew up in. The term house really didn’t apply, at least not for rabbit families in Bunnyburrow. The tendency for rabbits to have large families meant that there was more to many of the houses than met the eye. While not small, the house the Hopps family occupied was essentially the entry room for the actual living space with several levels built underground that included a kitchen that would be the envy of most restaurants in the city, a dining hall that could seat all of the Hopps’ children and several dozen grandkits at any given time. Below that were multiple living rooms, bedrooms for both individual bunnies and other rooms that had multiple bunk beds and play rooms. In between all of them were thick walls that were blessedly sound proofed.

Judy opened the door and paused for a moment as all of the familiar scents she grew up with wafted over her giving her a sense of nostalgia. With a smile she called out. “Mom? I’m home!”

A series of excited exclamations came from the upstairs portion of the kitchen that could have looked like one from any other home in the world save for the size. It was where Bonnie Hopps liked to do most of the prep work for meals or spend time making a variety of baked goods because she could enjoy the day while working and the average sized TV let her keep up on some of the shows she enjoyed, mostly different soap operas or talk shows. Dusting her paws off on her apron, Bonnie came out of the kitchen at almost a run and caught her daughter in a tight hug.

“Oh, Judy! It’s so good to see you!” the older bunny exclaimed before switching over to complete ‘Mom-mode’. “You feel skinny,” she observed, turning the hug into almost a police style pat down. “You aren’t eating enough! Are they keeping you from getting a lunch while you’re on duty? Why the nerve of some mammals!”

“Mom!” Judy said in a plaintive tone. "I’m getting enough to eat. Really.”

“Well, you still feel too skinny,” Bonnie commented. Then she leaned closer, her pink nose wiggling and twitching as she sniffed at one of her oldest children. “What’s that smell? Did you switch shampoos? Oh, well. No matter. We’ve got plenty of your favorite here.”

“Jeez, Mom,” another bunny said as she also joined the greeting. “Let her get in the door!” 

“Mari!” Judy exclaimed in genuine surprise as she disentangled from her mother and latched onto her sister for a warm hug. “I thought you were on the west coast!”

The second bunny with fur a light golden yellow with a bit more white on her cheeks, chin and chest than her mother shrugged while her blue eyes sparkled happily. “Yeah, I was. You know how it is. Life on the beach. Too much sun, too much sand and too many bunny boys with more muscles than brains always showing off... Ugh!” 

They parted while Bonnie watched her two daughters’ reunion, April having left the burrow a little before Judy went to Zootopia. She pushed the door hard to close it, following the other bunnies to the kitchen.

“No! Mom! The door!” Judy cried right as it shut with a sound of hitting something and a muffled, “Ow!” from the other side.

Judy darted back and swung the door open to find Nick sitting on the front step, their bags lying on the ground while her fox held his paws up to his nose, his eyes tightly shut while blood poured from between his fingers. She knelt down, her eyes full of concern. 

“Mari! Get me a towel or…something!” Judy touched Nick’s arm. “Oh, god, I’m sorry, Nick!”

“It’s okay…I think,” the fox replied with his voice a little off and muffled where he clamped down on his injured nose. “He…help me to the grass. Don’t wanna bleed on the steps. It’ll never come out…”

Judy did as she was asked and got the fox off to the side where he wouldn’t make a mess on the stoop just as her sister returned with a wad of paper towels she’d wet down with cold water. “Now I know why you smell of fox,” Mari teased her sister in a whisper that didn’t carry to their mother. She and Judy got the fox to lay back and gently pressed the impromptu packing to his snout before saying louder, “You must be Nick. Heard a lot about you from Judes. First fox cop in Z-town, right?”

“Yeah,” Nick answered as he let Judy lower his head, a look of worry in her amethyst eyes. “Pleased to meet you…er…”

“Marigold. Everyone calls me Mari. I’m Judy’s older sister.”

“Pff! By ten minutes maybe!” the other bunny replied tartly. She turned back to her husband and gingerly felt along the top of his muzzle. “Well, it doesn’t feel like it’s broken. How about your teeth? Are they okay?”

“It’s okay, Carrots,” the fox mumbled. “I just didn’t stop quick enough. Coulda been worse…” Nick tried to play it off but fox muzzles tended to be a little on the sensitive side. Because of the large olfactory cavity there were a number of other nerve endings and blood vessels. This meant that it would hurt…a lot, and bleed…a lot. It truly was worse in appearance than actuality.

Judy whipped her head around and gave her mother a sharp look. “Way to break my husband, Mom!” As soon as she realized what she’d just said the bunny’s paws slapped against her short muzzle as her eyes grew very large in chagrin.

“I didn’t me…an…WHAT?” Bonnie said, her frown, the look that all mothers learn early on, rapidly becoming a look of hurt and long suffering. “You said what?!? Husband?!? Judy Laverne Hopps what have you done?!? “

“And that explains why you smell like fox and nookie,” Mari teased her sister in a quiet voice, though her grin was almost leering. Between the two of them they were able to get Nick on his feet and then into the house while their mother had a small bout of hysterics to deal with, her face hidden in paws as she wept noisily. “What I want to know is are you intentionally trying to give our Mom a coronary?” the yellow bunny inquired with another grin.

“Oh, shut up,” Judy griped softly as she directed the fox to a chair. She looked at her husband and the amount of red on the wad of towels. “I don’t think the bleeding’s stopping. Do we need to get you to the hospital?”

Nick shook his head and closed his eyes at the stinging pain that flared intensely in time with the beat of his heart. “No. This has happened before. It’ll look like I’m bleeding out for about five minutes and then stop. It’s just really messy…” He tilted his head back. “I still need to get the bags…”

“I can get them, dumb fox,” Judy said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, her mother looking up just in time to see the display of affection that caused her to renew her sobbing. “I’m sorry about this, lover. I was hoping it would go better…”

With a wet sounding chuckle Nick touched her upper arm. “It’s okay. At least she hasn’t started shooting at me, yet.”

“Yeah,” Mari said with a grin. “Key word is ‘yet’. But you just got here, so don’t breathe easy yet. Our parents are…excitable.”

“Marigold!” Judy admonished. “C’mon. Help me get the bags.”

“Really, Judes? You know I hate it when someone uses my full name…”

They left through the door leaving Nick alone. He swallowed once, making a face at the feel of warm blood running down his throat, then closed his eyes. He hoped he stopped bleeding soon. When the bunnies returned, talking softly with the fox not really paying attention and headed to the rooms that Judy had told her husband were beneath the house, their mother went with them. At least it sounded as if Mrs. Hopps had stopped crying, though in all honesty her reaction was completely understandable.

Judy had told Nick about the incident when she was a bunny kit and her encounter with a fox named Gideon. She even had the scars still, though they were thin and faded. It had instilled a mistrust of foxes, which was completely understandable, but the bunny had been able to put those fears to rest as she and Nick had grown closer. It seemed that her parents were still working on their fox issues, and Judy’s sister didn’t seem to have any problems at all.

“Nick?” Judy’s voice came from the direction of the stairs that the three bunnies had taken to the lower parts of the house. “There’s iced tea in the fridge! Should be juice and sodas, too! Help yourself! We’ll be back up in a little bit!”

The bleeding had already slowed to little more than an oozing trickle but the fox felt it might be prudent to keep the damp paper towels ready just in case. He looked at the wad of paper in his paw then down at his shirt. If he hadn’t been able to staunch the bleeding it would have gone all over him and made him look like some slasher movie victim. Fortunately there wasn’t a spot of it on his clothing. Feeling confident that he could sit up without too much mishap, Nick looked at the refrigerator. Something to drink would be good to settle his stomach. That was always the problem with a nosebleed; he always wound up swallowing too much and if he wasn’t careful it could make him queasy.

Standing wasn’t too difficult, but he was a little lightheaded, though considering the sodden paper towels in his paw that shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. The few steps across the kitchen went all right as well. He opened the door and took a peek inside. The shelves were filled mostly with what looked like snacks, or what bunnies would munch on. There were plates and bowls and containers full of sliced vegetables and fruits, bag after bag of carrot sticks and on the top shelf three very distinct sections of soda, tea and juices. All of the juice bottles had a label that proudly proclaimed them as coming from the Hopps’ farm. There was, of course, the requisite carrot juice, but also tomato, a veggie blend, and another that had a tomato and other vegetables on it with stylized flames erupting from them. 

Nick thought the vegetable blend sans flames looked good and pulled out the bottle before spying a small container of blueberries. That alone was worth getting clocked in the nose and with a grin he grabbed the small box and was just about to turn around when the he felt a pair of cold metal tubes pressed into his left ear rapidly followed by the sound of the hammers for a shotgun being cocked.

“You picked the wrong burrow, fox!”

“This isn’t what it looks like!” Nick tried to explain quickly. “I’m here with Judy and-“

As the fox was talking Stu Hopps noticed the blood soaked paper towels. “What did you do to my Judy? Tell me now or I’ll fill your head with lead instead of sawdust!”

“I didn’t do anything! I swear!” Nick said. “I’m a cop…like her! We’re partners!”

“Uh-huh,” the rabbit drawled. “What’s with all the blood then? Huh?”

“Mrs. Hopps hit me with the door,” Nick swallowed, the knot of nausea in his gut having to do nothing with his bloody nose but the thought of being blasted by his new father-in-law. The trip was definitely not going as expected.

“I bet she hit you with the door while you were trying to break in!” the rabbit accused. “Twitch and I turn you into tapioca!”

“Dad! Stop pointing that thing at Nick!” Judy exclaimed as she came back up with her sister and mother, fortunately Bonnie was a little less emotional.

Stu looked around though the scatter gun was still stuck uncomfortably in the fox’s ear. “Judy! You’re okay! I saw this fox here rooting ‘round in the fridge then he said he knew you and he’s got that bloody paper towel. Well, I just thought…”

The gray and white bunny was tapping her right foot rapidly on the linoleum of the kitchen floor with her arms crossed over her chest, ears erect and tilted forward while her eyes were as hard as lavender glass. “Dad? Shotgun. Put it down.”

“Oh…okay. But you have to admit it was a little scary,” Stu said as he withdrew the barrels from Nick’s ear and set the butt of the stock on the floor. “Strange fox in the kitchen…a bloody mess in his paw…”

Before checking on her husband Judy took the gun from her father’s paws and broke the breech. “Dad, you don’t even have any shells,” she pointed out in exasperation as the cop part of her made an appearance. “If he had been a troublemaker and called your bluff what do you think you would have done next?” She passed the double barrel to her sister before giving her father a quick hug then moving to the fox. “As it stands I’m glad you don’t have any shells. I’d have been more than a little cheesed off if you did something to Nick.”

The adrenaline was already wearing off and he looked at Judy before giving her a weak grin. “Why is it always shotguns?” he asked plaintively. Judy snorted lightly as the fox got to his feet and his bunny guided him to the chair again. “Why not some variety. I might not mind it if some mammal pointed, oh, say a bazooka at me. Or a howitzer. I mean, they only look a little larger than the business end of a shotgun, you know.”

“Look,” Stu said as he got a fruit juice out of the fridge and cracked it open. “I’m sorry but Judy told us about some of the things that go on in the city and some of the criminals she’s had to deal with. It makes a rabbit a little nervous sometimes. Can’t be too careful, you know!”

“And when was the last time trouble came to Bunnyburrow?” Mari asked as she put the double barrel on the counter. “Don’t mind her, Dad. Judy’s just upset that you could’ve made her a widow.”

Bonnie sucked in a shuddering breath and chewed her lower lip, Mari gave her sister a smile that was just as smug as any that had ever crossed Nick’s muzzle, and Stu Hopps looked completely baffled. “Widow? What are you talking about? How would she be a widow?” His head whipped around to look at his other daughter. “You found yourself a rabbit? Well, where is he? I want to meet him!”

The sunshine yellow bunny tapped her father on the shoulder then pointed at the fox. “And there’s your new son-in-law! Say hi, Dad!” Mari told her father with a chuckle.

“This isn’t how I imagined this going,” Judy commented bitterly as Bonnie latched onto her husband as she began sobbing again while Stu simply stared in complete bewilderment. “Mom cracks you in the face with the door, Dad puts a gun to your head, and my dear sweet sister has to treat it like a joke.” She sat down on Nick’s lap and put a paw behind his neck while the other teased nervously at the ruff of fur at his throat. “Welcome to my crazy family,” Judy said as she gave her fox a sort of sad, sick smile in way of apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously? What is it with Nick and shotguns? And what a hell of an introduction to the Hopps clan!!!


	10. Chapter 10

Nick had a headache as a result of his sudden introduction to the front door of his wife’s family’s home, something that concerned Judy a little but the fox only asked if there was a place that he could lay down for half an hour. Her room was still the way she left it and it hadn’t been given to any of her younger siblings, oddly enough, and she made sure that her husband was tucked in and the light was off before rejoining her parents and sister. To say she was in a snit would have been an understatement. Mari had set up the coffee pot that Judy asked for and as she walked into the upstairs kitchen the bunny glared at her three family members in warning as she got a cup and doctored it with liberal amounts of cream and sugar. Sipping from it, the brew actually good and strong proving that there was at least one thing her sister could do right, Judy approached the table and one of the empty chairs as the other three bunnies whispered amongst themselves until she reappeared.

“Judy? I think we need to talk about this,” Bonnie began before her daughter snapped her eyes up, a scowl knitting her brows together in a way that would’ve made Chief Bogo proud, glared at both her parents and Mari with such anger that all of them went silent.

“I. Am. Completely. Mortified.” Judy said slowly, her voice low with more than a hint of frost in her tone. “I used to tell Nick all about how my family was warm and caring, how they were so much fun to be with and the three of you act like this?” She let her eyes fall on each of them in turn. She then directed her amethyst eyes to her mother. 

“Judy, how did you think we were going to react?” Bonnie inquired. “You come here with a strange fox? And you’re married to him? That’s just not done! What about grandkits? Your father and I just want-“

“Really?” Judy cut her off. “The way you just behaved towards my husband and I…and this is now about you? What you want?” She set the cup down with a loud THUNK! that spilled a little of the beverage on the table. “What about what I want? Hmm? I mean, we are talking about my life and Nick’s life and no one else’s.”

Stu made to speak but was silenced when his daughter raised her paw sharply.

“Nope. I’m going to drink my coffee. In peace and quiet. Then I’m going to go get Nick. Then my husband and I are going back to Zootopia,” Judy told them in a quiet, brittle tone that indicated she wouldn’t accept anything less than total compliance. They watched as she took a sip from her cup that had a smiley bunny on it before lowering it. “Unless you can come up with a valid…and I mean what I would consider valid, reason to stay.”

The other three watched as Judy took another sip.

“Before you do that, though, I think there are some things that you need to know, and I want you to listen very, very carefully. One, Nick is the best friend I have ever had, and I mean that in the most sincere way possible. He’s always been there for me, no matter what I needed or when I needed it, day or night. Two, he has saved my life, and I mean that in the most literal way possible. When he helped with the Night Howler case I would have been dead within sixteen hours if it hadn’t been for him. He’s saved it many more times since then, just like I’ve saved his. Three, you better believe I love him. He is my mate and I mean that in every way possible. I’m so in love with him that every day is like the first time I found out what I was feeling and it’s wonderful and frightening and spectacular and I can’t see a life without him. You see a fox, but I see the one mammal that I was made for and he was made for me.”

Stu sighed as he realized that he might have acted more than a little judgmental. “You’re right, Judy,” he began until a voice from the doorway interrupted him.

“Sorry to break up the family pow-wow but I went to try and find the bathroom and found these little guys…and gals I suppose, instead,” Nick told them, a bunny kit in each arm with others attached to each leg and a fifth holding onto the fox’s tail and riding on it as he walked into the kitchen. “They were getting a little noisy and were more than a little ripe so I went ahead and changed them up. Hope I didn’t get too much baby powder on their little cottontails.”

Stu and Bonnie got up to retrieve their youngest kits, a little nervous that their babies were being held by a predator. They were both surprised when all of their bunny kits fussed and began wailing as they were taken from the fox, their little arms waving frantically for Nick, one actually getting a hold of his shirt and launching herself out of Bonnie’s arms for the fox to catch, which he did with surprising speed and alacrity.

“Well, cheese and crackers,” Stu said as he let the fox take the kit he’d taken. “Never seen them act this way to a stranger before…” he commented while pushing his cap back to scratch his head in bewilderment.

“I don’t know what it is, but kits have always liked me,” Nick said as he made his way to the chair next Judy, giving her a kiss before he sat down. “Ooo. Is there any more of that?” he inquired with a nod to his wife’s cup.

“Sure,” the gray bunny said with a strange smile on her face. She’d seen Nick interact with other kits, pups cubs and lambs when they were on patrol or in Friendship Plaza where their apartment was, even doing things like buying popsicles, legally, for the children on hot days. Children loved her fox. Once, in a moment of poking fun at himself, which he only did around her, he pointed out that he was just a big kit himself. “How’s your nose?” she asked as she fixed his cup and came back to the table.

Nick lifted his head with a slight tilt to accept a quick nuzzle then looked at the cup and his arms full of bunnies. “A little sore, but not bad. Like I said, I just needed a little bit of quiet. That’s all.” He smiled as Judy took the kit in his right arm so he could enjoy his coffee. “Thanks.” He took a sip, his green eyes widening in surprise. “That’s good!” he said in surprise. “Okay. We need this for home. This is so much better than our coffee.”

Judy didn’t say anything as she watched, her husband playing with the kits, not even getting upset when the one that he still held lifted his lip to see his teeth, the tiny bunny burbling happily around her pacifier as she touched and poked the strange looking things in the fox’s mouth. 

A glance at her parents and Mari showed that all three of them were watching with completely stupefied expressions. The two that had ridden on Nick’s feet were still wrapped around his lower legs while the one that had been dragged along on the fox’s tail tried to catch it as Nick flicked it back and forth behind the chair he sat in. Part of their reaction had to do with the kits genuinely liking her fox. But, Judy had to hide her grin, Nick was also playing the ultimate charmer for her family, not unlike the way she’d seen him work others both as a street hustler, then as a cop.

As Nick played with the bunny kits, bouncing the ones on his legs on top of his feet, play chomping the one he held while making cute noises and getting baby belly laughs in return, Judy went to stand at the counter that had the coffee pot and just watched. Despite the con job he was pulling he’d make a great father someday.

“Judy?” her mother said as she drew close, her ears down in a show of chagrin. “I…I need to apologize,” she said in a soft voice, her indigo eyes full of regret. She shook her head.”We…we’ve tried to get over our prejudices, but…” She took a shaky breath and looked up at her daughter instead of staring at the patterned linoleum. “And I can see that you really do love each other…” Bonnie unclasped her paws and took Judy’s. “I’m sorry.”

“Carrot sticks,” Stu said as he joined them. “We’re both sorry.” He looked at his wife. “At least you just had a case of overreacting. I put a shotgun in his ear. Not the most neighborly thing I’ve ever done.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t have any bullets for it…or whatever they’re called,” Mari commented with a smile as she watched Nick give her little brother belly raspberries before grabbing another and pretend chewing of an ear, both actions filling the kitchen with giggles. “And I’m sorry for ruining your surprise,” the yellow bunny told her sister.

“I told you all before that life in Zootopia was different from what you have here,” Judy said pointedly.

Stu nodded. “I guess you’re right.” He smiled as Nick tickled another bunny kit. Then the smile faded and he put a paw to the side of his muzzle and leaned closer to his daughter. “He’s…he’s not really going to eat them, is he?”

“Dad!” Judy said in disbelief.

“Okay, okay. Just making sure,” Stu said with his paws up in supplication.

“It’s okay, Mr. Hopps,” Nick said as one of the kits made her way to his shoulders and held on to the fox’s ears for balance. “I don’t eat meat.”

Bonnie blinked and made a face. “But you’re a fox.”

“All my life,” Nick said with a grin.

“You need protein,” the older rabbit continued. “It’s just simple biology.”

“I do, I do,” the fox agreed as he let the bunny behind his chair catch the brush of his tail, trying not to make a face as the fur filled with drool. “That’s why I have all sorts of stuff made from protein soy at home. Tastes good, it can be cooked any way you want, and I don’t have to worry about it tasting like someone I might know, or even Carrots. Although…”

“What’s wrong with the taste of carrots?” Mari asked with a frown.

Judy snickered and dropped her head in her paw as she shook it. “He means me,” the bunny said. “His nickname for me is ‘Carrots’…”

Stu and Bonnie just looked at each other while Marigold doubled over in laughter. “Oh! He’s a keeper if he knows what ‘Carrots’ taste like!”

Bonnie made a small noise and covered her muzzle with both paws as her eyes widened in shock and Stu started glancing around at the others in confusion.

“I bet he makes sure to try and eat his carrots every day!” Mari pressed on while enjoying the way her sister’s ears turned a vibrant pink that matched the fox’s before slumping to the floor as she was completely overcome with mirth.

Nick and Judy just looked at each other with embarrassed smiles while Bonnie shook her head much as her daughter had just done and Stu scratched his head.   
“I don’t get it,” the older rabbit said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, there are time that I look at my stories, particularly these fan-fics, and think, "Gee! I wish I could be as cool as Nick!"
> 
> He really is the charmer! And I don't think the Hopps horde stands a chance! :D


	11. Chapter 11

Like Judy and her sister, Nick stepped in to help with the preparations for supper, though most of the work was carried out by older bunnies that Bonnie directed like a general commanding an army. Her commands were delivered with authority and a large wooden spoon that the rabbit waved around like a conductor’s baton. It also served as incentive for younger bunnies to vacate the much larger family kitchens when they came in looking for nibbles and munchies and Bonnie would use it to rapidly tap backsides to shoo her children out, normally with much giggling and laughing on both sides. The fox did what he could, though most of that was carrying and lifting or reaching up to higher shelves when asked to get something as he had no idea where anything was. Bonnie had just escorted a group of smaller bunnies out when she looked at the fox with a torn expression.

“Nick, I appreciate the help, but most of the kits are coming in to see you and there’s too much going on,” Bonnie began, looking a little uncomfortable.

“What Mom’s trying to say is you’re gumming up her works,” Judy said over her shoulder from where she stirred a large pot that Nick swore he could have taken a bath in. “Go sit with Dad. This will give you a chance to relax, keep the youngsters out there with you, and we can get dinner out before it gets too late.

“Yes, Ma’am!” the fox said as he stood straight with a serious expression and slung a salute at Mrs. Hopps. “Vacating as ordered!” He spun and marched out with only a momentary pause to kiss Judy on the side of her head. Nick thought he was going the right way, and ahead of him entire batches of young bunnies hid behind doorways watching, occasionally giggling then running away as he got closer.

He found a large room not too far away where Stu was looking at a Bunnyburrow Times, ignoring the tussling kits that wrestled and played, occasionally rolling over his feet while some of the older ones watched a TV, read books, did homework and texted with friends on their iCarrot phones. Around the room, looking at him with large eyes, their ears giving them away as they poked up with interest, many of the smaller kits eyed Nick as he took a chair down the line from their father.

“Kicked out of the kitchen?” Stu asked without looking up from his paper.

“Yup. Seems I was too much of a distraction,” Nick said as a kit that was barely out of diapers came trundling up, an orange pacifier decorated with a plastic carrot in his mouth.

The older rabbit nodded. “I learned a long time ago to stay out of Bonnie’s kitchen. She doesn’t truck with folk getting in the way. I’d lay better than even odds on her against a bear if it disrupted her kitchen!”

Nick chuckled as the bunny kit looked at him before trying to climb up into his lap, the fox helping after a few false starts, though as soon as the small bunny was settled he did what all the other youngsters did and lifted Nick’s lips to look at his teeth. From the corner of his eye he could see that Stu was watching and wincing, waiting for the fox to nip at the bunny.

As if satisfied with his expression, the kit let go of Nick’s lip before clumsily petting the side of the fox’s face, then touched an ear, a look of extreme concentration as the examination continued to paws and the thick brush of a tail. With a small nod the bunny hauled the mass of fur over him and laid against Nick’s stomach with the tail over him like a blanket with a content sigh. As an afterthought the kit pulled the pacifier out with a small Pop! and offered it to the fox.

“Thanks,” Nick said with a warm smile. “I’ve already had mine for the day. Why don’t you go ahead and keep that one?”

The kit smiled back, his top front teeth looking overly large, “’Kay!” he squeaked and plopped it back in and went back to resting his head on the fox’s chest.

By now Stu had lowered the paper in his paws and just stared. “Well, I’ll be…” He gestured to the bunny kit whose eyes were already growing heavy. “What is it with you and the bunnies that don’t like any other mammal except for their mother and I taking to you like this? I’ve never seen the like! Little Petey there is as ornery as they come, but he sure seems to like you! He sure doesn’t take to Gideon like that.”

Nick looked at the drowsy kit and rubbed at the spot between his ears getting a happy sigh in return. “Oh, I’m just a big kit myself.”

Before he knew it other bunnies were crowding around him, touching him, most were barely five years old. A couple of them decided that their little brother Petey had the right idea and began to swarm the fox, settling in wherever they could. Nick smiled at each one of them. 

Then the questions began.

“Awe you a powice officeh too?” one bunny in a yellow shirt and skirt asked, her brown fur almost russet, and looked at the fox with large amber colored eyes.

Nick chuckled. “I am. Your big sister Judy asked me to because I helped her on a very important case.”

“An’ you mawwied hew too?” the bunny inquired with her already high voice reaching an inquisitive squeak.

Nick nodded. “I did. You see, your sister is the bestest friend I’ve ever had and the smartest, bravest, toughest, nicest bunny in the whole world. With someone as special as your sister I couldn’t help but fall in love with her.”

“But how you gonna make bunny babies wif hew if you a fox?” the kit persisted. 

Nick swallowed hard and looked to Stu for advice but the older rabbit just grinned as he crossed his paws over his stomach and waited for the fox to figure it out on his own. “Well, that’s a good question. When we do have kits maybe they’ll be a mix of bunny and fox. We’ll call them…funnies! Or maybe we can call them boxes!” When the kit giggled at his silliness Nick began to relax. “Or…maybe we can adopt some bunny and fox kits. There are kits out there that need mommies and daddies, and I think Judy and I might be good at that. What do you think? Do you think we could be a good mommy and daddy for kits that need a family?”

Still giggling, the bunny nodded as a number of her brothers and sisters drew closer and began to throw a slew of questions at Nick. The one question that got the whole group quiet and looking expectantly at the fox was when one of the boy bunnies asked if he’d ever been scared.

“He’s a predator!” one of the other kits declared. “Predators aren’t scared of nuthin’!” 

“Oh, I’ve been scared plenty of times,” Nick told them honestly. “The thing is I knew that it would all be okay.”

“How?” the kit on his lap asked, her eyes wide.

“Because your sister Judy was there,” Nick told all them honestly. “When we have a really bad mammal that we have to catch, I know that it will be okay because your sister is watching my back, making sure I stay safe.”

“Judy’s bwave?” the bunny girl asked in awe. “But she’s a giwl!”

“That has nothing to do with being brave,” the fox said. “Everybody gets scared. Being brave means controlling your fear and doing what needs to be done because the safety of others is more important. And as that goes, Judy is the bravest police officer I know.” He leaned close and stage whispered to the kit on his lap. “Judy even taught me how to be brave!”

“So what’s the scaredest you’ve been?” another of the kits wanted to know.

“The scaredest?” Nick asked with a chuckle. “Oh, I’d say that was about three days ago when I asked your sister to marry me!”

“But you bof is in wuv!”

The fox laughed again. “Yes. Yes we are. But no matter how much I was in love with your sister, I thought that maybe I wasn’t good enough for her. I didn’t know if she’d want to get married to a silly fox. I was very lucky, though, because she said yes.”

The bunny on his legs looked confused. “Tha’s not vewy scawy at all!” she declared with a frown, several of her brothers and sisters agreeing.

“One day you will understand,” Nick told the kits with a smile. “One day you’ll meet someone special and they will be the one that you see getting old with, that you want to do everything you can together. That special someone will make you feel happy and like you can do anything when you’re with them, then make you feel sad and lonely when they aren’t. When you want to see them you’ll have stomach pains or it might feel like you’re full of butterflies and it’ll feel like you can’t breathe and your heart will race…”

“Sounds like what happened when I ate too many green apples!” one of the kits said to a sibling.

“Soun’s wike bein’ sick!” 

“It can feel like that,” Nick agreed. “But then when everything is just right, you feel like you can fly! All the colors around you are brighter, flowers smell sweeter and when that special someone is with you and holding your paw…”

“Supper’s ready!” Bonnie called from the dining room, the kits all but leaping up and running into the other room while the one that sat on Nick’s lap needed a little help getting down okay. One of the older children took the bunny that had curled up with the fox’s tail so Nick could join the others.

Before he could follow, Nick was stopped by Stu who looked at his new son-in-law with an unreadable expression. “You really are good with kits, aren’t you,” he said, making his words more of a statement than a question.

Nick shrugged. “I think treating them as mammals instead of children might have something to do with it,” the fox confided. “They’re young and haven’t had a chance to become jaded, it doesn’t mean they’re stupid or don’t matter. There are times I’m kind of envious because they haven’t lost that innocence or sense of wonder that being a kit is all about. That’ll change as they get older. For now let them see the world as a magical place that doesn’t have any limits to their possibilities.”

Stu nodded just as his lower jaw began to tremble a little a moment before he threw his arms around the fox and sniffed loudly. “Welcome to the family, Nick!” the rabbit wailed, his outburst bringing Judy, Bonnie and several of the older bunnies into the room.

With an uncomfortable expression, the fox put one arm around Stu’s shoulders while patted an arm in an attempt to comfort the weeping rabbit. “Thank you, Mr. Hopps. That means a lot to me. It truly does.”

“Call me Stu!” the bunny said as he continued to sob and held on to Nick, unaware that he was getting the fox’s shirt wet with tears. “You’re family now!”

“Sure thing, Stu,” Nick said as he shook his head and smiled then steered the rabbit towards the dining room. “You bunnies. Always so emotional,” he commented softly before running a finger under his own eye. 

Mari and Bonnie took the Hopps patriarch in paw while Judy stepped up to her husband and gave him a gentle, lingering kiss on his cheek. “And that’s how I know I married the right guy!” she whispered in his ear before showing him to the grown ups’ table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And who here doesn't see Bonnie Hopps swinging a wooden spoon like a samurai? I mean, seriously. I have enough relatives in the South and various agricultural states that I learned at a very early age not to slow down the work in the kitchen! And when the wooden spoon comes out, that old one that is never used for cooking because it is a +5 Utensil-of-Butt-Swatting, you know that someone is in deep, deep trouble!


	12. Chapter 12

“Not many can deal with Dad when he gets all emotional,” Judy said as she and Nick entered her old bedroom. “You did great!”

“I want them to like me,” Nick said as he entered the room. “I mean it’s kind of important now that we’re married and-Holy Sour Grapes!”

Judy whirled around. “What’s wrong?!?” she asked, worried at the horrified and wide-eyed expression on her husband’s face.

“Carrots, could you get any more girly?!?” he asked as his eyes roamed over a room that was nothing but different shades of pink. The desk was a light pink with darker pink trim. The bed and comforter were different hues while the pillows even had pink lace over the pink quilted cases. The rug was a hot-pink shag that looked like someone had skinned a polar bear before coloring the pelt for some kind of psychedelic dance rave. The light had been off when he'd come in for a lay down and hadn't seen that the room was so garish.

The bunny began laughing so hard that she had to hold her stomach and it was several minutes before she could stop though Judy suffered the occasional giggle. “I make no arguments in my defense save that I was thirteen when I decorated before Mom came in and changed everything to what she thought I should like!”

“No wonder you ran off to the city as soon as you could,” Nick commented with a look like he’d just stepped in something unsavory. “It’s like being inside a bag of cotton candy!” He stopped and shook his head. “There’s no way I can sleep in here. I might wake up and find I’ve turned pink, too…”

Judy snickered as she hopped up onto the bed, her butt bouncing a little on the surprisingly large mattress. “Well, you can go sleep in one of the guest rooms, or with the boys. I’m sure they’d love to keep you up all night with questions.” She stretched out on her side, her arm following the line of her waist and hip as her eyes took on a sort of challenging cast. “But this is one room where we have a bed big enough for both of us and we don’t have to worry about being bothered.” She trailed off while emphasizing the last by slowly flicking the buttons of her shirt open one at a time. “I guess there’s always the couch in the living room…” she added while stretching out on her back and arching so that the shirt slipped open revealing the lacy purple fabric of her bra, one of the ones she knew her fox liked to see her in. Especially the purple underwear because Nick said it matched her eyes.

“I think I can handle the color…” he muttered, his attention on her.

Judy smiled because even though Nick was enjoying the show, his eyes were on hers. He appreciated her body, but he was always too much a gentlefox to be lewd or crass even though she knew he liked to look. Which was good, Judy liked for him to look at her. “I hope so,” she told him in a low, almost purring voice. “After all that work in the kitchen cooking and then clean up it would be nice to have someone undress me,” the bunny husked as she stretched again. “And put me to bed…”

“You know, it just so happens that I wouldn’t mind helping,” Nick replied as he walked to the bed before kneeling down at the side of the mattress. His paw slipped under the shirt to expose first one shoulder, then the other. “I’ve been told I’m very helpful at times.”

The bunny touched his face and smiled. Her eyes were heavy and warm with affection and the swelling of desire within her. “Does your nose still hurt?” she asked softly.

“Not so much,” he answered, a little confused. “Why?”

“Because I want to kiss you and taste you and feel your teeth and if you were still hurting that might be a problem,” the bunny whispered as she drew them together. 

Their lips only touched for a moment, the feeling of warmth in both of them increasing with the contact as they shared each other’s breath before it deepened. Judy did indeed do all of the things she wanted and Nick was left a little dizzy when they finally parted for air. When her paw caressed the side of his face, petting his fur and stroking with the lay of it, Nick couldn’t help but lean into the contact. He wasn’t idle, though, and continued to pull her shirt down before sliding it from under her body. The fox then let his paw slide ever so slowly down the flat expanse of her tummy to the top of her jeans, his thumb and finger working gently to unfasten the button. When he slid a finger under the waistband, his claw parting her fur so that the tip barely brushed the skin beneath, teasing along the edge of her panties, Judy moaned in a high, soft sigh.

“I love it when you touch me,” she told him.

“Then it’s a good thing I like touching you, Mrs. Hopps-Wilde,” Nick replied, his heart surging as she thrilled when he called her by her new name. The fox leaned forward so he was a little above the bunny and began nibbling at her neck the way his bunny wife liked so much as he tugged the zipper of her jeans down. 

Sometimes, like the present moment, it was difficult taking things slow when nearly every part of him wanted to let go of his tightly reined in control and shred the fabric that kept him from his beloved mate. Nick had learned, though, that anticipation from both of them only added to their loving. It was then that he turned his attentions into something of a game. Sliding up onto the bed the fox began to nuzzle his way across her throat then down her chest, breathing in deep the scents of Judy’s body, the feel as his own coarse fur was pulled on by his wife’s softer coat. He felt muscles jump and twitch as he slid down the length of her one tantalizing inch at a time until he was in position to help her out of her jeans.

“You never…could just…open…your presents…like you’re…supposed to!” the bunny breathed in rising ardor, her body responding to every touch, every caress until Judy thought that the desire that filled her would burn her alive.

Nick smiled as he slowly slipped the denim down her thighs, one paw supporting each leg as he drew out the process, his answering smile warm and caring, but there was also an edge of hunger to it that had nothing to do with food. He let the jeans fall over the side of the bed as he stalked back up on all fours, Judy giggling in anxious ardor. “I like taking my time,” the fox husked as he rubbed his cheeks up the entire length of each leg.

Judy’s eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. “You…you’re marking me!” The thought of her husband leaving his scent in other places now that she knew the importance of it made her squirm in delight. “Oh! Yeeessssssss…!” the bunny cried before trailing off into another sighing moan as her mate marked her most private and delectable place. When he skinned her underwear off Judy thought she would pass out from the sensations. Then, just as she felt she couldn’t stand anymore she felt Nick begin to devour her in his own special way. It was all she could do to grab one of the pink quilted pillows and bite into it as a scream of ecstasy was ripped from her throat, her legs locking around the fox’s head as he brought her to the precipice of complete carnal delight.

The bunny was completely unaware of how much time passed from that timeless moment of ultimate bliss and as her eyes cleared from the light that seemed to explode in her mind and deep within her body she found her husband next to her, cradling her with the most gentle of embraces as Judy made her way back to the real world. Chest still heaving as she gulped air, Judy was surprised when she touched her own face to find the fur damp. She’d never cried during an orgasm before, but as the song of love and the afterglow of climax still surged through her, Judy knew complete bliss. Not even Nick had brought her to such heights before, much less any of her other lovers. That the fox could do this, that he could make her feel so alive, so desired was amazing!

“I take it that was good for you?” he asked softly, his words carrying his warm breath to her ear that wanted to twitch but like the rest of the bunny was incapable of moving. The smile he gave with the weight of emotion in his eyes was staggering and Judy managed a weak nod as she tried to press herself harder against her mate. “I like doing that to you,” he whispered, his muzzle rubbing against her cheek as he spoke. “I like making you happy because I am very much in love with you…”

Judy’s next breath was a soft sob as she finally managed to wrap her arms around the fox, hugging him tightly with her whole body. “My Nick…” she whispered as she tried to catch her breath.

It only took a few minutes for her to recover and Judy started kissing her husband, Nick returning the attention with fervor, though he did gasp in surprise as his wife rolled him onto his back. When he opened his mouth to speak, the bunny placed a single finger pad on his mouth. She licked at her lips, enjoying the mingled taste of herself and Nick that lingered and smiled down, a feeling of brazen wantonness filling her. “You’re turn, beautiful fox.”

Judy was less restrained as she took her husband’s clothes off, flinging them away with a sort of girlish glee. If anything Nick noticed that his bunny wife was acting something like a predator, staking her claim on him. It was intriguing and arousing. As she divested him of his over shirt then T-shirt she lost her bra, Judy straddling his body in her full glory, the multihued pink of the room surrounding her with a sort of nimbus that made her silken fur look even more like flowing quicksilver. It made her eyes appear to be a dark indigo and mysterious until they caught the light from the little bedside lamp and flared with lavender fire. Within moments the only thing between the husband and wife was the fur of their bodies and the air that swirled gently around them from the ceiling fan.

When the bunny put her paws on Nick’s chest and began to slide sensuously up and down his stomach and hips the fox became confused until he realized what she was doing. “You’re scent marking me…” he breathed, stunned and yet comforted at the same time. Never mind that it had the effect of bringing his own arousal to a painful state of readiness.

“My fox…” she husked before adjusting the way she sat astride him, accepting her husband with a hiss of pleasure, making sure that both were joined before rocking slowly back and forth. “My husband…my Nick…” she sighed.

So enraptured were the newlyweds with each other that neither was aware of the door to Judy’s old room opening, or the luminous blue eyes that watched them. 

Her mouth open in stunned envy while she touched herself with her paws, unconsciously mimicking the way Nick touched her sister, Mari watched the very intimate moment as long as she could, her ears twitching to and fro so that she could hear what was happening in the room while also listening for other members of her family lest she get caught in such an uncharacteristic moment of voyeurism. Marigold couldn’t help it, though. She’d been on the way to the bathroom on their particular floor when she heard the giggles and gasps, the whispers and soft sounds of passion. Unlocking the door had been easy, a small recess behind the knob itself disengaging the lock. Then she’d opened it just a crack to see what was happening, unable to stop herself.

At first Mari had been shocked to see such behavior between her sister and the fox, being told and knowing what they did as a couple intellectually far different than actually seeing it. The shock gave way to jealousy as Mari had never taken a lover to her bed that did the things to her that Nick did to her sister. That they touched each other with love quite evident in every caress, every brush of finger pads, every kiss was maddening! Then envy of what Judy had with her husband settled in her heart. Marigold wanted this, wanted someone that could make her feel the things she saw on Judy’s face and in her eyes.

With a sigh Marigold silently closed the door and fled to her room, her feet coming down on the carpet without a sound and shut the door before flinging herself onto the bed, her arms wrapping around her pillow as silent tears streamed from her eyes. Her sister had the kind of love that only happened in storybooks and Mari wanted the same! She sniffed twice before dabbing at her eyes with the sheet and flipped over so that she was curled up with her back to the door and cried softly for what she’d never known. Then her eyes fell on the stuffed rabbit she used to carry everywhere as a bunny kit and grabbed it, holding it tight and wishing it was a lover that would hold her like Nick held Judy.

“I want someone like that…” she told her old toy in a raw sounding whisper and wiped at her azure eyes. “I wanna a lover that would look at me the way he does her…touch her the way he touches…”

When Mari finally fell asleep it was with her face resting in a pool of her own hurt and longing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D'awwwww! A sweet little moment...and this tale is chock full of them!
> 
> And then there's Marigold. What's going to happen? Guess you'll have to head to the next chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

Bonnie Hopps opened the large closet and thumbed through the numerous hangers before finding the one she wanted that had a yellowed tag with Judy’s name handwritten on it. The black plastic that protected the dress inside revealed no details and the older bunny brought it out with the sort of reverence that priests and acolytes used when handling supposed relics. She put the hanger on a hook beside the door and stepped back into the closet, her honey brown eyes searching for the box that was supposed to go with it.

“This is the dress that Gramma Vera made me?” Judy asked, curious as to what the dress looked like but knowing that to open the plastic protector would incur her mother’s ire.

“Sewn by paw,” Bonnie replied from somewhere in the depths of the closet. “Plus all the trimmings. It was a tradition back when she was young.” The sound of things getting moved and then boxes falling came from the closet and a muttered, “Corn nuts!” from the older bunny after a surprising ‘THUD!’ When she came back out there were some dust smudges on her apron but her face was an expression of success. “One of the last ones she made before she passed,” Bonnie said more to herself before setting the box down. “I just hope the moths haven’t gotten to it.”

With a curious expression on her face, Bonnie opened the bottom of the cover and lifted it. The older rabbit had always hoped that Judy would one day wear the gown her mother had made, but she never would have thought that it would be for a ceremony where her daughter was marrying a fox. The big reveal of who…what…Judy’s husband was had been a shock. It had caught her off guard and it had hurt. Sure, Bonnie and Stu had a business relationship with, of all mammals, Gideon, the fox that bullied their daughter in grade school, but for her child to marry one…to fall in love…

But she was in love with her fox husband. 

Bonnie had spent the entire day watching how they looked at each other, how they touched, how they spoke to one another. It had been a revelation. Then there was the way Nick acted towards the rest of her kits, the youngest still in diapers, which he changed, and then let her bunnies climb on and play with him, treating them with a tenderness and patience that was wholly unexpected. Even Petey, her littlest kit who never liked any strange mammal had become immediately attached to Nick. Bonnie watched as the fox treated her children with affection and care, spoke to her and Stu with respect and deference, and was everything opposite of what Bonnie thought foxes were.

Bonnie felt her eyes filling as she looked over the fabric of the dress. It seemed that she and Stu had done a good job of raising their daughter because Judy was teaching them that the world was definitely not what they thought it was. She realized that she really couldn’t see the dress because of the moisture in her dark bluish-purple eyes and looked up when a paw softly touched her shoulder.

“Mom?” Judy asked in concern, the set of her face indicating she was ready for another argument to defend her mate. “Are you all right?”

Without saying a word, Bonnie pulled her daughter to her and held her tight as she cried. They weren’t bitter tears, but ones of satisfaction that her Judy, her little bun-bun, had found something so special, someone that treated her with love and care. There might have been a little sadness mixed in that her little hellion was all grown up, but that was a mother’s prerogative.

“Okay, Mom,” Judy said with concern. “This is a little awkward now.”

Bonnie chuckled lightly. “You’re all grown up,” she whispered before pulling back so that she could look into her child’s eyes. “No mother ever wants to admit that the time comes when her babies don’t need her anymore. But I want you to know that I think you’re in good paws. Don’t you ever stop loving Nick, bun-bun. He…he’s a good mammal and I’m happy for the both of you.”

Judy blinked in surprise. Her ears had fallen against the back of her head when her mother began to cry as she waited for another tirade and lecture. They now rose halfway in hope. “Mom? Are you…”

“You have our blessing, Judy. You and Nick.”

The next ten minutes were an emotional moment and the potential rift between mother and daughter was closed forever and the bonds that tied them together grew stronger. Both eventually parted and wiped at eyes, each smiling broadly. “You know, I’ll never be so grown up that I won’t need you,” Judy said as they held paws. “I’ll always need my Mom.” That earned her more tears and another hug until they got themselves under control again. Eventually she turned to the dress, her expression a blend of surprise and confusion. “Um…Mom? I thought wedding gowns were supposed to be white?”

Bonnie laughed as she took the dress off the thick wooden hanger. “Judith Laverne Hopps, we’re bunnies! You tell me one bunny you know that was a virgin on her wedding day!”

“Mo-om!” Judy said in shock, though it was impossible not to grin. “That’s terrible!”

“But true. I was already two months along with your older brothers and sisters when your father and I got married,” Bonnie said. “Your father…” the older rabbit said with a nostalgic gleam as she fanned herself with one paw. “Now he was good! So sweet and attentive. Just one look from him and I’d spread like warm butter. Mmmm-mm!”

The grin fell from the younger bunny’s face and her expression grew slightly horrified. No mammal ever wanted to think of their parents doing what came naturally. It went against the order of things. Not wanting to hear anymore Judy pulled her ears down. “Nonononono! Stop! Can’t hear you! La-la-la-la!”

Bonnie laughed, having too much fun with making her daughter uncomfortable. “You weren’t like this when we had ‘The Talk’,” she pointed out. “Get undressed. We need to see if this fits or not. We’ve got less than a week to get it altered if it doesn’t hang right and I want you looking your best.” She held the dress as her daughter complied, Bonnie seeing her rather lacy but tasteful lingerie ensemble. “Where did you get those? I like them!”

“There’s a little shop in the Rainforest District in the city called Winnie’s WonderWear. It’s a boutique run by a wallaby that caters to smaller mammals,” Judy said as she set her jean shorts and T-shirt to the side on a chair. “Nick likes it when I wear these kinds of panties. He says they make my bu…um…look…” Judy trailed off as she realized just how intimate the information was she was sharing with her mother and felt her ears heat up in a blush that spread to her cheeks under her fur. “Anyway, you can, um, look her stuff up online.”

“I’ll have to see what they have. Or you can take me there when we come to the city for the ceremony,” Bonnie said with a knowing smile as she helped her daughter get the gown on. “I still can’t believe that the police department is taking care of the ceremony. That’s so sweet of them.”

“It’s for the city’s public relations campaign. The Night Howler thing is still fresh in a lot of mammals’ minds and this is a way for them to spin good publicity. It’s nice that we don’t have to spring for the wedding, though.” Judy got the gown situated. For the most part it fit well, though it was a tad snug in the hips and the slot for her tail was a little too high. Apart from those minor issues it felt good and the bunny was fairly certain that she’d not only be able walk down the aisle in it, she’d be able sit and dance as well, the sign of a properly made gown. “Not bad,” Judy said as she turned and twisted trying to get a good look at herself until her mother held up a small mirror in her paws.

“Don’t forget the hat, bun-bun,” Bonnie said after she let her daughter get as good a look as possible before grabbing a large round box. Once it was situated the older bunny stepped back, her eyes misting up again. “Oh, Judy! You look stunning!”

“You don’t think it’s…too, well, old fashioned?”

“That’s the in thing,” Mari said as she slipped into the room. “It’s all the rage in Europe and on the west coast.” The yellow furred bunny paused and nodded slowly. “Mom’s right, though. You do look stunning.”

Bonnie wrote down the places on the gown that needed work and put it back on the hanger with its cover. Once Judy put her cutoffs and T-shirt back on she followed Marigold out at her sister’s request, eventually winding up outside under the oak tree where the tire swing they used to play on as kits. 

“Okay, Mari,” Judy said as she leaned against the striated bark of the trunk while her sister took a seat on the swing and idly kicked back and forth while she spun slowly. “What’s up? You’re acting like you did the time you tried that trick with the berry juice to make your fur brighter and it turned it green for a month.” Judy smiled as she recalled the incident, about the time of their first school dance when they learned that boys were interesting instead of gross. “You looked like a Martian bunny from those old cartoons…”

As Marigold spun back around Judy saw that her sister’s lower lip was trembling as her nose twitched like she was afraid and her eyes were large and sad. As her ears pressed hard against the back of her neck she let out a small hiccup of a sob and buried her face in her paws.

Judy was instantly kneeling on the ground beside her golden furred sister, a paw around her shoulders. “Oh, Mari, sweetie!” she began in a soothing voice, suddenly worried that the other bunny was in trouble. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”

It took a little while to calm Marigold to the point she could speak and Judy wiped the fur under her blue eyes dry. “I’m in trouble,” the yellow bunny said softly.

Judy almost commented that she had an idea that was the case but kept her mouth shut and just listened, letting her sister tell her story in her own time.

“I…I had to pee last night and I passed by your old room when I heard…uh…heard you and Nick…” Mari sniffed and let out a sigh that made it seem like she deflated and lowered her head. “I…I peeked in on you and…um…and…”

“I didn’t know you were a voyeur,” Judy muttered while trying to keep her irritation in check. “And knowing you like I do you saw everything didn’t you?” She watched as Mari nodded mutely. “Okay. So, you’re a kinky bunny. You’re not the first. And I’m married to a pred.”

The sun colored bunny sniffed and nodded. “I watched you scent mark him,” Marigold whispered. “It…it was so incredible and beautiful to watch…” She shook her head. “I wish I had a fox like yours.”

Judy’s eyebrow went up.

“Actually, I wish I had just someone that looked at me the way Nick looks at you…” Mari’s lip quivered again and she bit it for a moment to still it before continuing. “I met someone out west…someone I th-thought loved me.” She sucked in a shuddering breath, her throat closing spasmodically as she fought back more sobbing. “H-h-he s-said all the right things…did all the right things…”

Judy let her ire at Mari’s confession of spying on her and Nick making love melt away as she started to get a feeling of unease. “You always were a sucker for smooth words,” she said while stroking her sister’s head in an attempt to soothe her. 

“No. I was stupid. I…it…one night he took me out…we wound up at my apartment…and I forgot to make sure he used protection and my birth control pills ran out a couple of weeks before…”

Her eyes widening in surprise, Judy just looked at her sister, the unease in her gut turning into dread. “Oh, Marigold…you dumb bunny…”

The yellow furred Mari nodded slowly before letting her head fall forward so that her chin almost touched her chest, her eyes closed as moisture leaked out into her fur. “I think…I…think I’m pregnant.”

“But you don’t know for sure?”

Mari shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean…I used one of those pregnancy tests from the drugstore. Well, all of them. Some…some said I was…some were inconclusive.” She looked up, her face completely miserable. “I didn’t tell Healey. He…he’s the father. He wouldn’t talk to me anyway after he got into my pants…” She covered her face with her paws once more, sobbing with dread. “Mom and Dad are going to hate me!”

“They’re not going to hate you,” Judy told her sister while hugging her and brushing away her tears again. “And you’re not sure you’re preggers, so don’t be so hard on yourself. And if you are…well, Mom and Dad want grandkits.”

“Yeah. Great Jude,” Mari lamented. “Twenty five, unmarried and, oh, yeah, knocked up by a bunny that wants nothing to do with me. And you don’t want me to be too hard on myself?”

“Look. I’ll borrow Nick’s car and we’ll go get you checked out at the Bunnyburrow hospital. It’s not as modern as the ones in Zootopia, but they’ll be a lot more accurate than a drugstore stick you pee on!” She shook her sister affectionately. “Look at it this way, you’ll find out for sure, and no matter what you have family here for you.”

Mari nodded. “I suppose,” she said as Judy’s positive demeanor started to infuse her. “I guess you’re right. Any kits I have will need an awesome aunt to teach them how to be awesome, huh?”

Judy started to smile before Mari fell against her and cried with all of the fear and uncertainty roiling within her, the yellow bunny taking comfort and strength of family that was freely offered. “Hey, just no more peeking on me and Nick, okay?”

She nodded and sat up. “There isn’t another one like him, is there? A brother maybe? Or do you know any decent bunnies in Z-town?”

“Nick was an only child, sunny-bunny. And I know a couple of rabbits in the city, but none that I’d trust with my sister.” Judy helped her stand . “You might be a dumb bunny for letting some playbunny into your knickers, but you’re my sister. I gotta look out for you.” She yelped as Mari threw her arms around Judy’s neck and laughed and sobbed at the same time. 

“You’re the best, Jude!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope. You have to wait until the end to get the full description of Judy's dress! I know. I'm a meanie.
> 
> And poor Mari...such a silly bunny.


	14. Chapter 14

Nick was quite happy that the hay bales he’d been tossing onto the flat trailer were bunny-sized. Any larger and he knew that he’d have passed out before getting halfway through the rectangular bundles that sat on the mown field. Not for the first time the fox was glad of the conditioning that he’d gotten during his time at the ZPD Academy and the workouts that he and Judy enjoyed together three times a week. Not that Nick wasn't in good condition before, but now he was in the best shape of his life, but the repetitive lifting and tossing of bales were a challenge.

He’d shucked his shirt after the first hour of helping Stu in the fields, Judy telling him that she and her mother were going to be trying on the wedding gown that her grandmother had made for her. When she shooed her husband away Nick pointed out they were already married and that they didn’t have to worry about the whole spiel of it being bad luck seeing Judy in her dress before the ceremony. That was when his bunny wife went on a tirade and chased the fox out, giving her husband over to her father to get him out of the burrow until they were done. Stu was glad for the help and Nick followed the rabbit with a smile after kissing Judy, then getting a swat to his butt and a wink when he turned around in surprise.

It was with some surprise the Nick realized they were at the end of the row of bales and he propped an elbow on the stack, a smile splitting his muzzle as Stu came around the corner of the trailer that was hitched to the rabbit’s tractor and tossed a cold can of juice to him. “Thanks, Mr. Hopps,” Nick said as he held the cold drink to his ears for a moment before popping the tab.

“Aw, carrot sticks,” the rabbit said as he tipped his ever present cap up. “Call me Stu. You’re my son-in-law now, right? Enough of that Mr. nonsense.”

“Okay, Stu.” He took a sip and looked over the field, surprised that there weren’t any more bales to load. “Huh. Did we get them all?”

Stu laughed and slapped the fox on the back. “A good day’s work done in a few hours. You know, if you ever get tired of the police department I think you’d make a heck of a farmer.”

“It has its appeal,” Nick replied. “I think I’ve got some years before I think about that, though. I like the city and it needs some work still.”

“I suppose,” Stu admitted. “But with you and Jude the Dude working together I got a notion you two will make short work of it.”

The fox was grateful for the vote of confidence. Then his attention was caught by movement and he shaded his eyes to look at the two figures that came across the field from the direction of the house. “I guess Judy’s done trying on the dress.”

“Bonnie’s mother was a fair paw with needle and thread, that’s for sure,” Stu said. “She was a bunny that could work wonders,” the rabbit said as his daughters drew closer. 

The older rabbit watched how Judy looked at Nick, the light she couldn’t keep from her eyes, the way her steps quickened a little or the way she all but started bouncing. There was no doubt in Stu’s mind about his bunny’s feelings towards the fox and it was a joy to behold. As he glanced over he saw that the fox reacted similarly, his ears standing fully upright as his tail began to churn the air behind him. It was the same way he still felt about his wife, but to see it in others was enough to cause his light brown eyes to feel full and he tugged his cap back down and looked at the stalks and chaff from the mowing for the hay, not wanting to be caught in yet another emotional display.

Stu knew that he wasn’t the smartest bunny, Judy far surpassing him in that area, but he was a gentle mammal and his emotions ran deep. He was simply glad that he had help seeing past the fact that Nick was a fox and that he was a match for his Judy. There was a brief exchange when the bunnies asked if they could borrow Nick’s car and inquired if they needed anything from town. The fox passed his keys over and when Stu looked up his Judy and her husband shared a kiss that was quite tender with touches to the other’s face that nudged to older rabbit closer to another embarrassing display.

By the time the girls had gone Stu was fairly sure that he had himself under control and looked up to see the fox staring at him, a kind smile on his face. “Right,” the rabbit said as he kicked at the ground and reset his cap, trying to ignore the thickness in his own voice. “Let’s get this over to the barn and get some lunch.”

As he turned to take the seat of the tractor Nick put a paw on his shoulder. “One day Judy and I plan on having kits…one way or the other,” the fox told him. “I hope that I’m half the father that you are and do a tenth as well bringing them up as you have with yours.”

And that was it as Stu couldn’t hold it in any longer and his dammed up emotions burst loose in a choked sound before he threw his arms around Nick. If the display bothered the fox he didn’t say anything but let the rabbit get it out with silent support. When he could breathe and stand on his own Stu looked up and smiled at the fox. “If what I’ve seen from you is any indication, I think you’ll make a great dad someday.”

Nick nodded and pointed to the tractor as his stomach rumbled, the fox smiling in his usual good humor. “C’mon. Let’s go see what Mrs. Hopps has got waiting for us. Then we’ll get this in the barn. I think it’s going to rain before too long.”

“How do you know that?” the bunny asked with genuine curiosity as he took the seat and turned the key, the engine belching to life before puttering in a steady rhythm.

Nick pointed at his tail as he settled on top of the bales, his feet dangling over the edge. “It’s all fluffed and feels tingly. It always happens before a storm!”

Stu looked around but didn’t see any clouds that promised anything, but that could change in a matter of half an hour and he had no reason to doubt the fox. If Nick said he felt like it was going to rain, then Stu believed him. He slapped the tractor into gear and took a lazy, wide turn towards the barn. “Are you sure you don’t want to become a farmer?” he asked with a toothy grin.

Lunch turned out to be mostly leftovers from the previous night, though Nick wasn’t complaining. The work he’d been doing was as taxing as any of his workout sessions with his wife and he dug into the offerings with gusto. The greens, buttered and mashed turnips with a helping of baked carrots was as good as anything he’d ever had before from even the finest of restaurants despite being simple fare. The physical labor had honed his appetite so that all of it tasted exquisite. To top it all off Bonnie had made a batch of cinnamon stewed apples. Conversation was held to a minimum as the two ate before walking back to the barn for the rest of their work, paws rubbing pleasantly full bellies.

“I think I’m going to have to be careful while I’m here or I’m going to start putting on some weight,” Nick said as they both grabbed a door and opened the barn so Stu could back the trailer in.

The rabbit chuckled happily as he got the key for the tractor out of the pocket of his denim overalls. “And you really don’t eat meat?” Stu asked still surprised that the fox was a vegetarian. “Ever?”

Nick shrugged before guiding his father-in-law into the barn then held up both paws to have him stop. “Apart from maybe the occasional bit of fish, not really. But then foxes evolved from omnivores. Eating meat just seems…wrong, somehow.”

Stu climbed down and watched as Nick began to toss bales onto the loft floor, having a little bit of an easier time than the rabbit would with his greater size and reach. By the tenth bale Nick had the angle figured out and was tossing the wire bound bundles of hay up with smooth and rapid efficiency. When he started to pant with the effort and the heat inside the barn the fox paused long enough to pull his shirt off and went back to the task at hand without complaint. It was then that Stu noticed the discolored patch of fur on Nick’s left side.

“What happened there?” Stu asked with a frown.

“Huh?” Nick grunted as he stopped and looked where the rabbit was pointing before chuckling softly. “Best injury I ever got,” the fox said with a smile. “That’s where I caught some birdshot from a shotgun where my vest didn’t quite cover me.”

The rabbit blinked, his frown deepening. “I don’t get it. How was getting shot a good thing?”

Nick grinned. “I was in the emergency room getting the pellets taken out when Carrots…I mean Judy, came in. She was pretty upset that I’d gotten hurt and was pretty sore with me and the other officer I’d been teamed up with. Me for getting shot, him for letting me get shot. It looked worse than it really was, and she insisted on helping me out when I got home.”

The bunny nodded a couple of times before turning it into a shaking of his head. “I still don’t get how that was a good thing.”

“It led to me telling Judy how I felt about her.”

“Oh?” Stu grunted before understanding set in. “Oooh! Okay. I get it now. So what happened?”

“Well, apart from her bullying me into taking the pain medication the hospital gave me, she kept me from breaking my fool neck when I took a spill in the shower trying to get the blood out of my fur. It was rather embarrassing to have Carr…Judy help get me on my feet when I wasn’t wearing anything but my own fur. I know that most of the time she has a problem with mammals being naked around her from the…an earlier investigation.

“Then she decided to spend the night to keep me from doing something stupid, but in the process discovered that I liked to draw and paint. She found the drawings and paintings I did of her and cornered me, so I had to tell her that I was in love with her.”

Stu nodded. “How long did you have these feelings for her?” the bunny asked, curious and not at all bothered about prying where his daughter was concerned.

“To be honest? I fell in love with her before she resigned during the Night Howler case.”

“How long before you told her?”

“Months,” Nick answered while pausing to take a short break and sitting on one of the bales. “She didn’t know and I thought it was better that way. I’d rather been in love with her and suffered for it, seeing her every day while it just grew and grew than tell her and take a chance that it would make her angry and wreck the friendship we had. She’s the best friend I’ve ever had and I’d rather have kept that and loved her from afar than ruin everything. But then she found the drawings I did of her and I didn’t have a choice but to tell her.  
“I think that was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. Well, apart from asking her to marry me.

“I mean, I’m a fox. I knew I couldn’t be everything she deserves. I…we can’t have kits together, and I know that’s something that she’ll want someday. That and how could I expose her to the kind of ridicule and prejudice that I had to deal with? A fox and a bunny?”

Nick shook his head and wiped at his muzzle with his shirt, his panting causing him to salivate more than normal.

“But tell her I did. That’s when she said the same thing and told me that she was in love with me. I went from being terrified to elated in the blink of an eye and a single beat of my heart. I swear I thought I’d grown wings. I still feel that way whenever I see her. Judy is everything good in my life. She believed in me when no one else did, gave me the strength to ignore what other mammals said or thought and to follow my heart. She taught me that if I don’t follow my dreams that there’s nothing worth living for.”

A silence fell between them as the fox grew introspective for a moment before tossing the last of the bales of hay into the loft while Stu thought back to the weeks that Judy had come home after turning her badge. He looked at the fox and realized that Nick needed to hear about that time.

“When Judy came back, she was miserable, you know.” Stu hopped up and sat on the edge of the trailer. “She was miserable and depressed and nothing would bring her out of it. It was frightening, really. Folk that get that depressed…they…they tend to do things to themselves, you know? Many a night Bonnie and I went to bed scared that we’d wake up in the morning and find that Jude…that she’d…that she wouldn’t be there. Or worse.

“More than once she’d be asleep and having a dream, or maybe it was a nightmare, and she’d call out a name. We’d look in on her and find her still asleep, her paw reaching out for something that only she could see and calling out a name.” Stu turned to look at the fox. “We didn’t know who this ‘Nick’ was that she wanted so badly, but it was tearing her up. I didn’t know we could actually cry in our sleep until then. She kept on saying she was sorry, that she didn’t mean to hurt anyone.

“I guess she was dreaming about you and whatever happened between the two of you.”

Nick looked at his father-in-law with surprise. “She never told me any of this…”

“What happened, Nick? Was it really that bad?”

The fox shrugged. “It…I suppose it could’ve been, but she came back. She’d found out what night howlers were and she stopped Bellwether before the city was ripped apart.”

“Was it that interview? Judy told us about that and how she messed up. There’s more, though, isn’t there?”

Nick nodded. “I think it was my fault,” he husked. “That interview…it could have been so bad for predators. But it wasn’t really that. It…it was the thought that Judy could be afraid of me. That…that hurt, Stu,” he admitted in a hoarse whisper. “I was already falling for her and to think that she might be afraid of me was like a knife of ice going right through the center of me. I thought that I was going to be sick and it felt like everything I was trying to become just crumbled to dust inside me. I…I walked away. Judy tried to come after me…I remember her calling my name…I just…I just hurt too much…”

“It happens sometimes,” Stu said sagely. “We hurt the ones we love when that’s the exact opposite of what we’re trying to do. It’s part of life I guess, part of just being mammals. We mess up. But we always have a chance to make it better if we’re brave enough to try. Judy taught me that. It makes sense to me.”

Nick brushed at his eyes, that particular point in his and Judy’s lives something he really didn’t care to recall. Fortunately they had been able to get past it and became the stronger for forgiving each other. “I’m glad she’s there to keep teaching me that every day.” He sighed and got back up to finish pitching the hay onto the loft, the last one thudding into place before the fox brushed errant bits of straw from his fur. “So what’s next, Stu?” he asked.

Before the bunny could answer the first rumble of thunder from an approaching storm rattled through the barn and across the fields outside as the first fat drops of rain smacked the ground. “With that sound? I think it’s carrot juice time and we call it a day. I was expecting this job to take me all of today and part of tomorrow morning.” He squinted at the fox with a grin. “Sure you don’t want to be a farmer?”

“I’m good for now,” Nick said as they moved to shut the large doors.

Walking to the house, the sudden drop in temperature feeling good after the dry, dusty heat of the barn, Nick lifted his head to catch a few of the fat drops of water on his tongue before Stu made a surprised sound, his expression one of wide-eyed amusement. “You call Judy Carrots sometimes,” he said with a growing smile.

“Yeah…” Nick admitted cautiously.

“Eat your carrots everyday!” He enthused. “Now I get it!” Stu said as he began to laugh until he realized the innuendo involved. “Hey…waitaminute…!” His eyes narrowed. “That’s my daughter y’all were talking about!”

The fox grinned as his ears folded back and he put a paw on the rabbit’s shoulder. “Yes. But only in the good way,” Nick told him solemnly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are times that I just love Stu, and I hope that I'm doing his character justice. And we get to see some good interaction between Nick and his new father-in-law!


	15. Chapter 15

Judy was thumbing through a magazine that had articles discussing the planting of popular autumnal crops when Marigold grabbed her arm and squeezed in apprehension as a raccoon in light green scrubs and a lab coat came out, her large dark eyes settling on the two bunnies that were the only ones in the waiting room at the moment. The main rush of patients normally came early in the morning or later in the afternoon when farm mishaps were likely. Most nonthreatening injuries were handled at home in the burrows unless it required the setting of bones or sutures.

“Miss Mairgold Hopps?” the raccoon inquired.

Mari gulped and nodded timidly before raising the paw that wasn’t maintaining a panicked grip on her sister. “Th…that’s me…” she finally answered in a terrified whisper.

The nurse nodded, sighing inwardly. Not a day went by that she didn’t have to run a pregnancy test on one of the young bunnies that called Bunnyburrow home when precautions were so much easier to deal with than an ‘Oops’ moment. At least it wasn’t an outbreak of some social disease. “I have the results of your test. Do you want to come to my office and we can discuss them?”

Mari looked around as did Judy, seeing that they really were the only ones. “Can…can you just tell me now?” the yellow furred bunny asked.

The raccoon raised an eyebrow before nodding, a slight frown tugging at her mouth. “You dodged the bullet this time. You aren’t pregnant, though I’m familiar with the sex education program here in the Burrows and I know that you know the risks of unprotected sex.” She pulled the sheet with the results from her clipboard and handed it to Mari. As the bunny took the paper with trembling paws the nurse reached into her pocket and pulled out several small boxes of condoms and set them next to Mari on the small table. “I would recommend these next time so you don’t have to go through this again.”

Without waiting for a response the raccoon turned and walked away, not even attempting to hide her irritation that she had to help out another bunny that thought she was pregnant when there were more interesting things she could be doing.

“So…” Judy began. “Happy? Sad? Relieved? What’s the verdict?”

Marigold folded the paper and put it in her purse, her azure eyes darting to look at the small boxes before scooping them up and dumping them in along with her test results. “Better believe I’m using these from now on,” the bunny declared. “I don’t want to go through this until I’m married and want kits…”

Judy gave her sister an exasperated look, one paw on her hip as she pointed with the other, her right foot tapping angrily on the industrial grade beige carpet of the waiting room. “Or, instead of the condoms, you could try…oh, I don’t know, closing your legs and saying ‘No’? I mean, it’s just a thought.” Her expression didn’t change even when her sister looked up with a flash of irritation in her eyes. “What?” Judy asked hotly. “Everything’s okay so you’re going to just forget about this not even five minutes later?” She let out an exasperated sigh and stalked towards the exit leaving her sister to run to catch up.

They got into the car, Judy’s ire causing her to bark the tires as she gave the little sports car too much gas. She knew better than to drive when angry and pulled into a small strip mall and killed the engine, her paws gripping the steering wheel in an effort to bleed off the excess emotional energy.

“You’re a sweet bunny, Mari, but you need to think with your brain and not your libido! When we were in school you were popular because you were pretty and, I hate to say it, as easy to open as a screen door! You can’t expect to get by with a tail wiggle and letting any bunny that looks cute between your legs.” She looked at her sister and shook her head. “Don’t you want to be more than just a cute and fluffy bunny-hump? Don’t you want to do something that matters?”

Marigold readied to make a heated reply before sighing and looking out the window. “Yes,” she said in a tiny voice. “I…I don’t know how.”

Judy blinked her eyes and looked at the other bunny to see if there was any sort of duplicity to her answer. “Okay. So what do you want to do?” She released the steering wheel with her right paw and reached over to grasp her sister’s paw. “It’s not quite there yet…not all the way, but I happen to know of a place where a bunny that tries hard can be just about anything she wants. The question is; what do you want to be?”

Mari thought about the question, actually focusing on it, Judy having learned to read her sister years before and saw that she was turning it over in her head. “I…I went to school for journalism. I wanted to do that as badly as you wanted to be a cop. But…somewhere…I lost it. I think…no. I know that’s what I want to do. To tell other mammals about things that are going on that are important, to help them see the truth of a thing.”

“And?” Judy prompted with an arch look.

Mari snorted derisively. “And not let any cutie that comes along into my bed. No. If I’m going to do this it’ll be because I earned it.” She nodded, her ears standing erect for the first time since they entered the medical center. “And If I’m lucky I might find someone that’ll treat me the way Nick treats you!”

“Good luck with that,” Judy said sincerely. She got out, slipping the keys into her pocket as she headed for the craft store, the front windows a little grimy, the sound of her sister’s feet pattering on the asphalt to catch up. When Marigold linked her arm with hers they continued on, for a moment it felt like when they were still school kits. 

“So what are we doing here?” the yellow bunny asked as they went into the store, the small bell mounted to the top of the frame jingling sadly, a little off key as the sales clerk, a young bunny that looked like she’d just graduated herself that year staring at the other pair.

“I’m just getting some things for Nick. He likes to draw and paint so I thought I’d get him a tablet and some pencils. You should see some of his stuff. It’s really good. I still think he could make a living as an artist if he wanted to.” Judy found the aisle with the necessary supplies and stared, not knowing the first thing about what to get. “And this is the problem with surprises,” she grumbled. “I don’t know the first thing about drawing…”

Mari cocked her head and scanned the offerings before noticing that some of the products on the shelves, despite the thin scum of dust on them, had very specific and concise uses on the packaging. “Okay…I know that the best paper is heavy and acid free. Thank Mr. Romper for that one.”

“Wow,” Judy said with a smile. “Our old art teacher in Bunnyburrow Middle School? You remember him?”

The yellow furred bunny nodded as her ears drooped and pinkened. “Yeah, but not for his teaching.” She found a moderate sized tablet with top edge spiral. It was moderate for a fox. For a bunny it was huge. “Two hundred sheets, thick, acid free…” She opened it and felt one of the pages. “I think this is good.”

Judy nodded. “It looks like some of the stuff that Nick has back home. Okay, that’s taken care of. What about pencils?” Her own ears fell when Mari just shrugged until she saw a variety pack. According to the contents it had both hard and soft pencils that left varying shades of darkness, a draughting pencil and even came with rubber and gum erasers. It had to be one of the better packages as it was almost twenty five dollars. “Ooo! Grab those, too!” She pointed at a metal case with a large variety of colored pencils. “I don’t know if they’re any good, but it’s better than nothing.” Judy’s wistful grin faded. “Right?”

Mari shrugged and shoulder bumped her sister. “I guess. I didn’t even know there was anything besides a number two pencil so I am so not the bunny to ask!”

It only took a few minutes to make the purchase, the clerk excited and then slipping back into her bored state as the only two shoppers in the whole store left. Judy dropped the bag of art supplies into the space between the seats, contemplating putting the roof down when the first drops of rain began to plop noisily on the windshield. “Damn. I wanted to catch some wind, too,” she lamented as they got in.

“That’s a serious looking storm,” Mari commented as she leaned forward and looked up through the glass at the billowing tower of dirty grey clouds. She sat back and clicked her seatbelt into place as Judy got the car in gear and headed for the exit of the parking lot. “Jude? When the time comes, what are you and Nick going to do about kits?”

Looking right then left, her paw already having tripped the signal switch, Judy pulled out onto the main road then activated the wipers. “We’ve talked about it and there are a couple of options we have. The biggest issue is that we both want bunny and fox kits. Bunnies aren’t the issue because if we want I can go to a fertility clinic and get inseminated. Or we could adopt. It’s going to be more of a pain for fox kits because it’s either adoption or finding a surrogate and getting her to agree to carry kits to term.”

“Um,” Mari began, “how would you get Nick’s baby-batter into her? Would he…and her…you know?” the yellow bunny asked while miming with her paws.

Judy looked at her sister with disbelief before making a rude noise and laughing so hard her eyes watered. “Cheese and crackers, Marigold! You are a seriously dirty bunny, you know that?”

“I don’t know these things!” the other rabbit said defensively with a sour pout and her arms crossed over her chest. “I know one way of getting nookie cream into a gal and it’s the old fashioned way, all right?”

Wiping her eyes and keeping her attention on the road Judy shook her head. “What do you think a fertility clinic does?” She asked with a laugh. “They’ll do to the surrogate mother what they’d do for me. The sperm would be screened, they’d wait for either or both of us to reach our peak fertility and we’d get inseminated.” She glanced to the passenger seat. “Weren’t you awake during biology class and sex ed?”

“Um…I might have skipped class a few times…” the other bunny admitted.

Judy nodded. “Oh. That’s right. You were busy getting paws on experience.”

“How many times are you going to whack me in the muzzle with that?” Mari complained. “I said I was going to change and I really will try. I can’t help it if I like getting laid.”

“Then buy a toy or two.”

“What about you?” the golden furred rabbit challenged. “How long were you in the city before you and Nick got together? Hmm? What did you do when the mood hit? Did you go grab some rabbit you picked up at a bar? Or did you go pred hunting seeing you really like foxes.”

“No,” Judy said. “I only like one fox that way and I married him. And again, no. I didn’t go pick up guys.” She’d hunkered down behind the steering wheel disliking where the conversation was going.

“Okay. So what did you do? Remember, I grew up with you. I know that your drives are as bad as mine when you get all frisky or do I need to remind you of the zucchini incident?”

“That was April, not me.”

Mari frowned. “Um…the carrot carving?”

“Nandi.”

“Shit. What about the cooking spray and-“

“Leanne.”

“Well, hells bells! What did you do when the mood hit?”

Judy sank lower so that her eyes barely saw over the steering wheel and mumbled something.

“What? I didn’t catch that.”

“Does it matter?”

“Absolutely!” Mari said as she leered at her sister. “I’ll keep on going until you tell me what you did before you and Nick got together.” Her eyes widened and she sucked in a whining gasp. “You were the one that played with the candlestick!”

“No! That was Della, Clover and Lily.” Judy sighed. “I…I did find a shop in the city that sold…um…adult toys,” she admitted.

Mari giggled. “Let me guess. You got a fox shaped one, right?”

“Ye…yeah…” the bunny admitted in a small voice. “I…I didn’t really want to be with anyone else after getting to know Nick. No one really interested me after hanging out with him. I didn’t know that he felt the same way. If I had we’d gotten together a lot sooner. Anyway I was getting to that time of the month one week. On a day off I was walking around to try and fight the tension and found myself in one of the quieter neighborhoods and discovered a shop called ‘Toys & Tails’…” She sighed as she felt her ears and face grow hot with embarrassment. “I bought the fox toy before I really knew what I was doing. As soon as I got home…” The blush was replaced by a dreamy smile. The toy was okay, but Nick was so much better! Her fox had skill to match his looks, but more than that their intimacy was a validation of their love, not the reason for it. It really was making love with him and that was all the difference in the world.

“Still have it?” Mari asked with a grin.

Judy coughed and looked away. “Uh…yeah. I…don’t really use it anymore. I mean I have the real thing…but sometimes if we’re on different shift schedules and I can’t sleep…”

Marigold laughed. “And you call me a dirty bunny?!?” her expression grew even more lewd. “Has he ever watched you play with yourself using it?”

“And look!” Judy said as she turned the wheel into the driveway of her parents’ house while it felt as if her ears were going to burst into flames she was blushing so bad. “We’re home! Ha-ha-ha!”

“You have!” Mari squealed. “Aww, Judes, there’s hope for you yet! You have all the weaknesses the rest of us do!” They got out of the car, Judy making sure that the plastic bag with the art supplies was closed up against the rain that had grown steadily harder. She grabbed her sister’s arm and they ran to the house, both squealing in laughter as they got pelted by the cool rain. They got through the door and made sure they didn’t track any mud in, wiping their feet diligently. Before they got too far Mari grabbed her sibling and squeezed her tightly. “It’s nice to know you don’t really wear a cape all the time,” she said. “And thanks for being with me today, Judy. I love you, sis!”

Judy could only smile, hoping that Mari could really pull off fully entering the adult world and promising that she’d be there to help as much as possible. “Love you, too,” she said, still holding her sister’s paw as they walked into the house, both stopping and sniffing the air, their reactions almost identical before they turned to each other and grinned. 

“Candied carrot cakes!” they squealed in unison before bolting for the kitchen, laughing like they had when they were much younger.

Bonnie chased her daughters out of the kitchen with a smile and large wooden spoon before they could get into mischief. “You can wait until after supper just like everyone else!” the older bunny declared, turning back to the task of supervising other sons and daughters with cooking the evening meal while Judy and Marigold continued further into the house.

“Hey, Dad,” Judy said as she and Mari both gave their father a kiss on either cheek. “Where’s Nick?”

Stu smiled and pointed to a fluffle of younger bunnies that were gathered in a literal pile, Judy doing a second take and finally seeing the end of a russet and brown furred tail and one very fox like paw sticking out of the fuzzy clump of kits. 

“Oh, sweet peppers! Are you okay?” Judy asked in concern. “Can you even breath?”

The paw sticking out gave her a thumbs up before Nick emerged from the pile, little kits clinging to the fox as he grabbed any bunny he could for pretend chomps and tickles that sent the fluffy horde into a giggling frenzy as they scattered to the four winds. “I’m fine, Carrots,” Nick said, accepting and giving a kiss while still holding a bunny in his other paw and giving the squealing Gillie a laughing fit before setting him down so he could join his brothers and sisters. “Better hurry up and give me another kiss. As soon as they regroup they’ll be coming back!”

“You are completely insane, you know that don’t you?” Judy said with a laugh as she got in one more kiss before her younger siblings came charging back and once more buried her husband.

“Yeah! But apparently crazy is fun!” Nick shouted before once again vanishing amid laughter and high pitched cries of triumph as he was completely swarmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do enjoy writing these little slice of life chapters and adding a little of what I think has gone on behind the scenes in my little head canon. 
> 
> And I'm still enjoying 'hanging' out with the other Hopps family that I've come up with, though Mari needs a little work. I might have to revisit her at some point...


	16. Chapter 16

By sunset the storm had ended but it was too late for any of the kits to get anymore outside playtime and after playing with Nick the youngest ones had been herded off for bath time and bed, the older rabbits finished up chores and bent themselves to homework or other teenager activities while Stu, Bonnie, Marigold, Judy and Nick settled into the living room that had an age requirement of seventeen to be in, the simple rule giving the older rabbits a little breathing space. Nick had the tablet that his wife had gotten him on his lap and at his urging Judy and Mari were sitting on the floor in front of her parents as they watched one of their favorite shows on the TV.

Every so often Nick would look up before his pencil scratched furiously on the paper then glance up again. After the second round of commercial breaks Bonnie looked up from where she was happily knitting and cocked her head to the side. “Whatever are you doing, Nick?” she asked with curiosity burning in her indigo hued eyes. 

Pausing to put a couple more lines down the fox wordlessly passed the tablet to Judy who then put it in her mother’s paws. Bonnie stared at it for a moment before a small noise sounded from deep in her throat and she looked up with a partial smile. On the paper were Stu and Bonnie and their two daughters. The amount of detail that the fox was able to capture with his pencil was astonishing and their expressions were absolutely perfect.

“This is wonderful!” the older bunny exclaimed. She then reached over and swatted her husband. “Stu! Look at this! Isn’t it wonderful?”

Being startled out of his half tired reverie, Stu took the drawing tablet and gazed at it with interest. “Well, I’ll be…” he muttered before tilting his cap up to scratch his head. “That’s really something, Nick!” He squinted with one eye at his son-in-law. “Tell me, is there anything you can’t do? Artist, police officer, and you’d be a fair paw at farming, the kits love you something fierce…you really are talented, aren’t you?”

“I certainly can’t cook,” the fox said with a laugh. “Not like Mrs. Hopps can. I’m one seriously stuffed fox!”

“Will you stop that!” Bonnie said in exasperation as she took the tablet back and continued to look at it. “You know our names and you can start using them right now!” she ordered. As the older bunny stared at the drawing a thought occurred to her. “Can you do portraits, too? Like the old painted ones”

“Sure,” the fox said as the tablet made its way back to him. “It takes a little time depending on the kind of paint used, but I could do portraits.”

The older bunny looked up with a hopeful expression. “I’ve always wanted a portrait of Stu and I, like one of those that was done years ago!”

Mari chuckled. “Mom’s a bit of a ‘Fieldton Abbey’ fan. She loves that show! Have you seen it?” the yellow bunny asked her sister and the fox.

“Just bits and pieces here and there,” Judy admitted. “We don’t get a lot of time for TV shows and stuff.” She looked at her husband, her amethyst eyes sparkling. “You know, that spot you painted looking out over the Canal District islands would make a great backdrop.”

Nick nodded in agreement as he flipped to a fresh page and got the basic idea for the portrait in his eye before sketching rapidly. It only took a minute or two for him to get the references he’d use in the larger and then began adding to the images. He studied the cast of their faces, the way the light from the table lamp between them fell, details that in the final painting would be crucial. Then he smiled and looked even more intently at them. “Now, this is going to sound a little odd, but it will help when I go to put all of this down on canvas. I want you to think of the first time the two of you kissed…that moment where you realized that the both of you would be sharing your lives together,” he told them softly.

Stu let a silly grin split his muzzle and Bonnie’s eyes fluttered as her ears pinked up in a blush and she fanned herself lightly with her paw. “That was quite a night,” the Hopps matron said as her other paw automatically reached for her husband’s. “It was our first Bunnyburrow Carrot Days Festival together. Oh, we danced so much that night!”

“That really was quite a night,” Stu agreed. “But then I was a little distracted because I was there with the prettiest bunny ever,” he said as he and his wife turned to look at each other with the kind of warmth that only came after years of being in a loving relationship.

Nick nodded silently as his pencil flew across the paper of the sketch tablet, a look of concentration in his green eyes until his ears twitched upright. Judy was curious and scooted over so she could see what he was doing. As she looked at the drawings a small sound came from her throat as she saw that her fox had captured the essence of the memory he triggered and the resultant gazes her parents gave each other. “How do you do that?” Judy whispered in awe.

Her husband only shrugged. “I don’t really know. I just…I just do,” he said with a tilt of his head. He wrote down little details like different colors and the like along with a couple of lines that his wife didn’t understand the need for. “Okay. I have enough to get started on a portrait. It’s going to take a while, though.”

“Let me see?” Bonnie asked, clearly excited about getting something that she’d wanted for a while, her paw going to her muzzle as she looked at the page. “Nick!” the bunny husked. “You…that…that look! It’s exactly how I felt that night when Stu kissed me!” she told him in a tremulous whisper, her eyes filled with a maelstrom of emotions. “Your parents must be so very proud of you!”

Judy’s ears fell as her head whipped around. “Mom!” she whispered while shaking her head slightly and trying to wave her paw to warn her mother. “No!”

Nick took her smaller fingers in his and gave her a bittersweet smile. “It’s okay, Carrots. No secrets, right?”

“But…” the bunny said, her eyes full of worry and concern.

“Did I say something wrong?” Bonnie asked, Stu looking at his wife then the fox as he felt a change in the atmosphere of the room.

“My parents died when I was young,” Nick admitted.

Bonnie leaned forward, curious, but also trying to be supportive. “Oh, dear, Nick. I’m sorry,” she told him honestly. “What happened?”

The fox took in a breath and let it out slowly, his eyes closing at the pain that he thought had gone away before learning that it would always be in him, somewhere deep in his heart and tried to prepare himself for sharing details of his past that he’d only shared with Judy. “My Dad…we weren’t the best off family. He couldn’t get a decent paying job because he was a fox. Mostly minimum wage work that was dirty and long, but he did what he could. Mom, too. At least we had a roof over us and food on the table and each other…the important things.

“Dad got hurt one day at work and the local doctor didn’t really help because Dad couldn’t afford it. So he just took what Dad could pay and gave him pills for the pain. Nothing more. Prejudice against preds…especially foxes was sort of bad at the point. Unfortunately it got Dad hooked on drugs and he died from an overdose and other complications by the time I was twelve. We’d lost our apartment and were living in a shelter.

“Mom took whatever work she could, a lot of it really dirty, but she was able to get a position at a chemical plant for a little bit better than minimum wage. Then she got sick. The chemicals gave her cancer, specifically brain tumors. She died before I turned fourteen.”

Bonnie and Stu sat silently, Marigold simply staring in disbelief. It was Bonnie that got up and sat by the fox, her paw coming to rest on his upper back while Judy sat on the floor and simply held her husband’s paw. “You lost both so young,” the older bunny said. “Oh, Nick. You poor dear…” She reached up and stroked the fur of his neck in sympathy and to soothe. “How did you make it? Was there anyone to help?”

“I wound up on the streets,” he told her. “Not many families were willing to take a fox kit…not back then. Things are better now, but there’s still room for improvement.”

Two huge tears rolled down Bonnie’s cheeks before she pulled the fox to her just as she would one of her own children and when she spoke her voice was thick but there was a cast to her eyes that seemed to say that the world had better beware because this fox was one of hers now. “I’m sorry you had to go through so much. It’s a wonder the world didn’t eat you alive! But you’re here now. You have Judy, and you have me and Stu. We’ll be your parents and anyone that doesn’t like it can just go to blazes.”

“Thank you, Bonnie,” Nick told her softly, returning the embrace with temerity. 

The older bunny let go so she could lean back enough to cup the fox’s face in her paws and smiled as tears winnowed their way through the fur under her eyes. “Unless there’s something else you’d like to call us,” she prompted.

“M-mom?” Nick asked, a hopeful glimmer in his emerald eyes as his lower jaw trembled slightly.

“That’s much better,” she husked and pulled him to her in a fierce embrace, making soft noises as the fox wept silently. She smiled with the kind of warmth and affection that only a mother could as she opened her heart and took Nick in as something that might not have been born of her body, but was hers in spirit. “My son…”

Judy wasn’t much better off and sat on the floor, scrubbing furiously at the moisture that ran down her own face while she rested one paw on Nick’s thigh. It made her heart swell to see her husband heal a little more, to regain a bit of the things that had been taken from him by fate. What was happening now, though, was better than the bunny had expected. She’d hoped that Nick could be accepted by her family the way she’d accepted him. Not only did her parents accept her choice of mates, they welcomed him. She moved just in time as her father shuffled over, unable to see as he was weeping as well and plopped down and threw his arms around the fox as well.

As Nick looked from the warmth of arms and so much more he caught Judy’s eyes just as Mari joined the small cluster, moved by the power of what she saw and felt. Judy just shrugged and chuckled past her tears. “You know us bunnies,” she half joked. “So emotional…”

For Nick it was something he never expected, but was one more piece of his ultimate dream to have a family of his own, the dream being something that had helped him through some of the darkest days of his life. Here there was no need of the masks that he’d been forced to create to protect a heart that was a little scarred, more than a little broken… He reached out and found Judy, the catalyst to so much good in his life.

It felt incredible to be able to love and to be loved in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter even had me sniffling a little bit. More so going back and reading it. I don't think it needs much more of a note than that...


	17. Chapter 17

“Are you sure you got enough at breakfast?” Bonnie asked for the fifth time. “It’s a long drive back to the city and I don’t want my kits getting hungry,” she said with one of Judy’s and Nick’s paws in hers. “There aren’t really a lot of places I trust on the way back for something that I’d consider decent to eat…”

“Mom, we had enough for breakfast,” Judy said with an exasperated smile. “Plus we’ve got the bags of carrot chips, the blueberry cobbler cookies, the fruit basket…”

“We’re going to have to hit the gym extra hard anyway with all of the wonderful cooking we’ve had!” the fox said with a happy grin. “And don’t worry about a thing. We’ll have your tickets for the train and where you’ll be staying all taken care of.”

Bonnie looked concerned. “Are you sure?” she asked her daughter and son-in-law. “We don’t mind getting a motel room on our own and train tickets aren’t expensive, but they aren’t cheap and-“

Judy chuckled and shook her head as she took her gown from Mari and got it put in the trunk of the car so it wouldn’t get crushed or wrinkled while Nick took over. The fox held both the older bunny’s paws in his. “Mom, really. It’s no trouble. We want you there to celebrate with us. Just remember to bring your recipe book! There are some dishes I want to try to make for Judy. Especially your baked parsnips and carrots casserole.” He smiled warmly and pulled her into a hug, his eyes closing as his chest tightened whenever he called Bonnie ‘Mom’. “Besides, if I let you and Dad stay in a motel Uncle Ray and Aunt Marnie would never let me hear the end of it!”

“They don’t mind that we’re coming?” Bonnie asked as she returned the hug, still feeling that asking the older fox couple that she and Stu could stay at their house was a hefty imposition. 

“They’re excited!” Judy said as she joined the hug. “You’ll love them! And remember your sewing basket! Aunt Marnie loves to sew or knit or crochet, just so long as her paws are busy and would love to have someone else she can share patterns and stuff with.”

Stu came up, his arm going around Nick’s back in the way he would do to any of his own sons. “You’re all gassed up?” the rabbit began with a concerned expression. “Tire pressure’s good? Oil and coolant are topped off?”

“We are, they are, and yes,” the fox said with a chuckle. “I almost love the car as much as I love Judy. I’m not going to let anything happen to either one if I can help it!” He added a wink that his wife couldn’t see that got a laugh from his father-in-law. “We really will be fine, Dad,” Nick assured him.

Another round of hugs once the trunk was closed had to be given before Nick and Judy were allowed to get in the car, the top down so they could both enjoy the glorious warm morning. As they pulled away, both waving and the fox tapping the horn twice they headed for the road that would take them back to the city.

“Good-byes aren’t really that easy with your family, are they?” Nick asked as they waved to yet another of the Hopps bunnies working the expanded produce stand near other market stalls.

It wasn’t that bad,” Judy said as she looked at the silver wrist watch that her husband had given her for her most recent birthday. “It only took an hour and change. With Mom and Dad that’s pretty good! Really!”

“If you say so,” her fox relented, taking a moment to fish his sunglasses out and flipping them open. Once they were in place he draped his arm over the back of the seat, the speed limit on the edge of Bunnyburrow keeping them in third gear, his paw teasing along Judy’s shoulders and neck as he drove. “I think I’d like to come out here again,” Nick admitted with a half smile. “I like the quiet. And I never knew that there were so many stars in the sky at night! Why didn’t you tell me?”

Judy nuzzled her husband’s paw, a smile of her own teasing her muzzle. “Would you have believed me?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, I’ve seen how it’s depicted in movies, but I thought it was exaggerated. I’ve only seen the sky at night while in the city and the lights from buildings and all the streetlamps block out everything but the brightest stars and the moon when you can see it.” He took a moment to get into fourth gear as they left the town limits and the next speed zone wasn’t until they hit the little hamlet of Hillberry almost an hour down the highway. “Then again, I was distracted this time, too. I mean it really was hard to pay attention to the sky when I was on my back last night. You kept blocking the view. Although you were a lot more fun to look at…”

Judy’s smile turned into a shy grin as her ears pinked nicely causing Nick to divide his attention between the road and his wife. “Um…now that we know why I’ve been so…affectionate lately…” the bunny squirmed a little shyly. “You aren’t upset with me, or-“

Nick laughed, the sound rich and good and seemed to travel up and down the bunny’s spine leaving a tingling warmth that grew as he stroked the fur of her neck with his finger pads and claw tips. “You can’t help it. It’s spring time. Besides, I was aware of what I was getting into. As long as I can keep my wife happy, I’m happy!”

Moving a little so she could rest her head on Nick’s shoulder, Judy looked up through her sunglasses. “You make me happy. Very happy.” She sighed as her husband slipped his arm around her and gave a nice little squeeze that suffused Judy’s entire body with a sort of comfortable surge that made her feel loved. She’d always been the kind that enjoyed touching and how so much could be conveyed through something other than words and every time her mate made contact with her it sent little signals of how deep their emotional bond truly was.

Fortunately a long talk with her mother had helped Judy understand that her increased libido wasn’t a sign of something wrong, but something that was extremely right. The seasonal shift had a bit to do with increased ardor, but a majority of it was having found not just a husband, but her mate, someone that was a perfect match for the bunny in more than just an emotional sense. While there was no possibility of Nick ever fathering kits for her, there were ways around that. Even though they were different species, her mind and body recognized her husband as the one that would always support her and share all aspects of their lives with her. In the meantime, until they decided to use other methods to expand their family, Judy and Nick should simply enjoy what they had as often as they could.

The last bit of advice was something that the bunny planned on following.

“So,” Judy began as she sat back in her seat, adjusting the strap of the belt as she did so, “I told Mom what you called me the other night.” The bunny stretched and felt her husband’s eyes on her and turned it into a show. Instead of her normal jeans and flannel, Judy had opted for a cotton blouse in light blue with little orange carrot print and a denim skirt. “I thought she was going to blow carrot juice out her nose when I said you called me a pred-a-phile!”

“I’ve always had a way with words,” Nick said with a smile.

She pulled his paw down in front of her, kissing the back of it before rubbing her cheek on his furred knuckles. “That’s not the only thing you have a way with…”

Even with the air whipping around them Nick could detect the change in his wife’s scent, the increase of the sweet tinged musk that she normally exuded reaching his nose with the effect of speeding up his heart. When she continued to nuzzle his paw Nick had to swallow hard and began to pant lightly. “Carrots?” Nick said, his voice barely loud enough to be heard in the passing wind. “Ju-Judy? I need to pay attention to the road…”

The bunny only grinned more as she took her husband’s paw and slid it down, even rubbing his knuckles lightly on her chin where her other scent glands were. Judy then opened his fingers, letting him feel the silky fur of her throat as she continued to slide him down her front.

“Yeah…driving is sort of important right now…” Nick husked, trying to focus while he also scanned the sides for one of the convenient pull-offs that she’d shown him on the way to Bunnyburrow. His wife’s behavior was exciting and he was happy that there was no traffic on the road. “If we wreck…you wrecked us…” he breathed as he felt his paw being guided down her flat belly, her knotted midriff shirt exposing the white swath that ran from Judy’s muzzle and all the way down to her thighs.

“There’s a turn-off about three miles ahead,” the bunny told her mate in a teasing voice thick with need and desire. “I think you might be as ready as I am by the time we get there.” As if to prove her point Judy moved his paw even further, her eyes closing and a gasp escaping her mouth as she arched against the contact she initiated.

Nick realized that the heavy warmth his paw encountered was more intense than it should have been and he almost jerked the wheel too hard to the right as his gaze went to where his bunny held him. “You’re not wearing any panties…” he accused once the small Alfalfa was back on course. “Judy Hopps-Wilde, you are one seriously naughty bunny!”

Her mouth parted as his finger pads grazed very sensitive places, her voice catching in her throat as her legs automatically seized upon his whole paw in an unconscious effort to keep Nick where he was and to increase the contact. “Would you rather I was less assertive?” Judy managed to ask as her right arm reached up and over her head to grasp the back of the seat, her eyes challenging her husband with a deep lavender luminosity that came from within.

“I love you just the way you are,” Nick answered in a voice that was just as thick in growing arousal as his wife’s. 

Then, instead of saying anything more he let actions speak for themselves as he explored her, their time together giving the fox a familiarity with Judy’s body that still amazed, delighted, frightened and intrigued him. He found the right places to touch or stroke, some easily found, others deep within and knew that his efforts weren’t in vain when the bunny tried to choke back a squeal with climactic pleasure. He enjoyed taking his Judy to the edge of bliss before letting her tumble softly into orgasm. As she struggled to get her heart rate and breathing back under control, her right foot once more tapping rapidly against the floorboard as her ecstasy began to fade to a soft edged glow even though she still squirmed a little in the seat trying to ride the wave for as long as she could, Nick downshifted and hauled the car over into the pull-off Judy had mentioned.

“One. Two…” Nick began as he turned off the engine and removed his sunglasses and put them on the dash.

Judy tilted her head and smiled winsomely, her arm still reaching up and around her seat, curious as to what her husband was doing. “Why are you counting?”

“Three.” He finally turned and let his smile go wide enough so that his teeth were clearly visible and nipped the air at her with an audible CLICK! “Run, little bunny. Run into the forest before the fox finds you…” he whispered before leaning over to snuffle her neck and ear then nibble playfully at her throat. “Run fast or he will eat you…all…up!” The last was added with an enthusiastic but gentle nip to her neck. “Four…”

Judy’s eyes widened as her heart jumped in her chest at what Nick was suggesting, his little bit of role playing causing her lower tummy to clench with sudden lust and excitement. With a nervous giggle she opened the door after all but throwing her seatbelt off and took a couple of backwards steps towards the woods.

“Five. Six. Seven…”

The bunny bounded into the tree line, dodging between oak and maple, elm and spruce, fleeing as fast as she could while trying to stifle the laughing that bubbled inside. As she disappeared Nick got out, making sure the keys were in a pocket and scrawled a quick note that the car was not abandoned before putting the top up and locing the doors.

“Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven…”

Nick paused at the edge of the trees and breathed deep, relishing the smell of the trees and undergrowth, the rich undergrowth and loam of soil and decaying leaves. Mixed with it all was Judy’s scent, and her arousal. Little did he know that from that point on the smell of green things would ever remind him of his bride and only add to the surge of love that always accompanied thoughts of his darling bunny mate. He continued counting until he hit the last number and smiled, the expression warm and affectionate, though there was a definite hint of predatory delight to it that had nothing to do with being a fox and everything to do with being a male with a beautiful female and all her delights waiting for him.

“Fifty.” He looked left and right as he drank in the scents. “Ready or not, Judy,” he husked and leapt to the left and bolted into the woods.

Judy found several good plants that would help mask her scent. Wild onions grew thick in the clumps of grass between trees, a sage stalk here and there and even wild mint. Normally Judy would have plucked some of the mint to chew on but her focus was bent on giving her husband a merry chase. She was almost a hundred yards into the trees and had backtracked a couple of times, knowing her Nick’s nose was quite sensitive. This would also be a good test to make sure that the impact of the door with her beloved hadn’t done any damage. The sound of something off to her left made her snap her head in that direction, eyes and ears both straining to catch a glimpse or sound from her husband. 

Yes, she wanted to be caught.

No, she wasn’t going to make it easy.

The woods were filled with all sorts of sounds as Judy strained her ears. Crickets chirped noisily while there must have been water nearby because little peeper frogs were filling the air with their little squeaks. Then from the right came the sound of a twig falling from a tree a moment before an errant breeze rustled leaves and pine needles, filling the whole area with a natural sort of white noise. 

There was no sign of Nick, though, and that made her adrenaline spike with deeply buried prey instincts while her body betrayed her anxiety with another rush of feminine arousal. For the most Judy was excited by the prospect of her mate finding her. But far within her brain, the primitive aspect that was still a part of every mammal, she quivered with the knowledge that the most fierce predator her kind had ever run from was chasing her.

“Juuuudy!”

The whisper of her name, mingling and twisting with the breeze was like a jolt of electricity through her and the bunny searched frantically, the whisper coming from no specific direction at all. Hunkering low and scooting to a tree that had fallen in the not so distant past, she continued to peer into the sun dappled verdant world around her. As her back found the trunk of the fallen tree she failed to realize that the shadow that loomed over her was little different than the others, a little too well defined until a paw came to rest over hers.

With a start Judy yanked her paw of the bark with such speed that she acted like it had been on fire and looked up into the twin emerald fires of her husband’s eyes. With a sharp yelp she tried to leap away, not seeing the kudzu vine that her foot was near, the fibrous tendril hampering her escape so that she landed unceremoniously on her rump, her skirt flaring out and up to show her beloved Nick that she was indeed sans panties.

Concern momentarily replaced the smug expression of success and amusement until Nick saw that she wasn’t hurt, just terribly inconvenienced. A small nod from Judy as she got over her initial fright enabled them to continue with their game. Lounging on the log and making it look as if he weren’t trying to catch his breath, Nick leered at the still wide-eyed bunny. “What do we have here?” he asked, slipping back into play. “A little bunny all on her own in the woods?” He ‘tsked’ in mock admonishment as he rolled to a sitting position and slipped to the ground and began walking to Judy, his paws clasped behind his back.

It was difficult for Nick to focus on things, his nose full of the scent of aroused bunny…his bunny, and couldn’t keep his eyes from flicking to where she sat exposed to him, almost lewdly so.

“Cute little bunnies should be more careful where they go.”

Judy’s own chest was heaving, the flash of fear being replaced with something equally as primal and just as strong as heat began to fill her loins. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked in a small voice, continuing to move away from Nick, her voice high and tremulous.

Without warning the fox leapt, landing almost on top of Judy, a paw on either side of her body as she yelped in surprise. “I thought that was a given, little bunny,” Nick said with a leering grin. “I’m going to gobble you up!”

Before Judy could react, her fear coming back with the hungry expression in her mate’s eyes he plunged his head under her skirt, keeping true to his threat, but not in the way it would have happened in the savage past of their un-evolved ancestors. 

“Oh!” Judy husked, her paws curling tightly into the tufts of grass that Nick had backed her into, her chin on her chest and her eyes squeezed tightly shut as sensations pounded into her from the attentions of her husband. “Oh…god…Nick…!” the bunny gasped, climax stealing upon her in just moments. She rode the first wave of pleasure before collapsing back, her muzzle a tiny ‘O’ of delicate agony as her fox made love to her with his own muzzle. Each gentle rake of teeth left searing bliss and his tongue…

It was more than enough to steal her ability to speak completely. Then he paused, letting her gather her wits as she was slowly let down from the heights of orgasm, though the respite only lasted a few moments before Nick plunged in again, Judy’s high mewling sound of ecstasy driving him on. The next thing Judy was aware of was looking at where her mate disappeared beneath the fabric of her skirt, her paws holding him in place by twining in the thick fur behind his ears as she whispered the only encouragement she could.

“Yes…oh, god…yes…!”

If anything the moment was even more intense as Judy’s joy was drawn out for so long she began to see stars dancing in the dark ring that surrounded her vision. When she finally came to, her chest heaving as she gulped much needed air, she found that Nick was holding her to him, the rest of her body on his lap as he softly caressed her head.

“Are you okay?” he inquired, his voice sounding brittle while fear and worry filled the green pools of his eyes. Along the lower rim of his eye lids moisture was building, threatening to spill over at any moment.

Judy tried to nod but her entire body felt like it was made from warm taffy, completely boneless as small aftershocks of exquisite sensation still exploded from deep within her. It took a couple of tries before she could actually get her voice to work and the first sound was a weak, throaty chuckle. “I’m okay…lover…” the bunny husked as she managed to get a paw to the side of Nick’s face and clumsily stroked the fur as lovingly as she could.

Nick continued to hold his wife, even rocking her slightly as she recovered, only relaxing when her eyes fully cleared and she smiled with warmth and love.

“Where did you learn that?” Judy asked breathlessly as the last of the afterglow faded, leaving her feeling completely sated.

“Uh…online…” he said with a shy grin.

Judy shifted a little so that she stayed on the fox’s lap but was on eyelevel with her husband. “No, you had to do that before. Some lucky vixen in the past?” she asked with a grin. When Nick shook his head and looked away the bunny got the idea that there was something that she was missing. “C’mon. You can’t learn that without doing it! Who was she? You can tell me. I won’t get jealous. I promise.”

“No one,” Nick persisted. “You’re the first.”

His behavior was a little confusing. Even the lovers that Judy had enjoyed in the past hadn’t done things like that to her. Perhaps it was because they’d been bunnies, too, but they’d been experienced. “Nick?” Judy asked. “You’ve had to have had other lovers, right?”

He shook his head silently and Judy’s paws went to her muzzle, her eyes growing extremely large.

“Nick…” the bunny whispered. “I…I can’t be your first!” she husked. “C-can I?” When he looked up it was with an expression that shocked Judy to her core. “You were a virgin?” she asked, not sure whether she should be honored, thrilled or horrified.

“Most foxes,” he began in a soft voice, “most, but not all, mate for life, Judy.”

“Impossible!” the bunny exclaimed, her voice hardly louder than a sharp exhale. “All that time and…no one?!?”

“Foxes are different,” Nick said as he lowered his head, his ears turning a darker shade of pink. “We get the urges, but they aren’t all that strong until we find our mate. Then we feel them like others do…or maybe more so. For most of us, until we find our one…it’s just something we can ignore.”

Judy shook her head, completely stunned even as her heart tried to melt. “I…I-I-I wa-was your f-f-first?” When her fox nodded she couldn’t keep from throwing her arms around his neck, one paw cradling the back of his head as tears began to stream from her eyes. “Oh…oh, Nick…” she kissed his cheek before nuzzling him, only half aware that she was helping him to mark her with his scent again. “Oh, my sweet, sweet Nick!” She squeezed him so tight she could feel his heartbeat through their shirts, then her own as it slowed to try and match the fox’s pulse. “I don’t know what to say! It’s so sweet and I feel like my heart’s going to break at the same time!”

Nick pulled back a little, feeling like he could almost drown in the amethyst of his wife’s eyes. “You were worth waiting for,” he told her with complete, naked honesty in his own emerald orbs. “You’re worth waiting a hundred lifetimes for…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fun bit of role play, a little romance, a dash of spice, and perhaps one of my favorite erotic bits that I've ever written! And if you ever get the chance, try making love in the woods. It's fantastic!!! Just stay away from the poison ivy...


	18. Chapter 18

Nick looked at the dress uniform and tried to draw in a calming breath as his uncle lounged on the couch, a glass of iced tea in his paw as he watched his nephew pacing nervously. “I don’t understand, Nicky,” the older fox said with a curious expression. "You and Judy are already married, so why the nerves?”

Squinting at the left sleeve, Nick leaned closer, what he thought was lint turning out to be a figment of his imagination. “The Justice of the Peace was just Judy and I,” he muttered, his breakfast from earlier that morning sitting in his stomach lick a lump of cold mud. “Tomorrow we have to do it in front of everybody we know. Screwing up isn’t really an option.”

“It’ll be fine Nicky,” Uncle Ray said. “And you can stop trying to see if there’s something wrong with your uniform. I went over it with a fine toothed comb and magnifying glass.” He smiled as his nephew grunted, actually sympathetic for the younger fox’s angst. “You’ll be nervous at first, but then you’ll see Judy and you really won’t be aware of anything until you kiss her. That’s the worst part…at least it was for me. Too short and everyone there will think that there’s something wrong between you two. Too long and they’ll laugh and joke and you won’t hear the end of it for months.”

Nick had turned to look at his uncle as he spoke and did a slow blink as he stared at the older fox with annoyance. “Gee. Thanks Uncle Ray. That’s just something else for me to worry about, now.” He resumed pacing and started wringing his paws together. “And Bogo’s throwing this. I bet there are going to be reporters.”

“I thought that was right neighborly when I heard,” Stu said from the kitchen area where he was making a pitcher of carrot juice and berry smoothies, happy that the blender Nick and his daughter had wasn’t one of those new fangled ones. “In Bunnyburrow we have to keep things small otherwise whole families would go broke with trying to pay for a good hitching shindig.” He tripped the button, his paw on the lid while the blender chopped and crushed then mixed the ingredients. The rabbit continued talking as soon as he shut of the machine. “At least it won’t be like mine. Bonnie and I were in a bit of a pickle and she had to do some creative work to hide her bunny-bump from some of her folks. Talk about a possible disaster!”

Ray smiled with a chuckle. “Shotgun wedding?” the older fox asked.

Stu nodded as he filled glasses. “That wasn’t the problem, though. We knew we were going to get hitched one way or another. Bonnie liked her tomato cocktails and didn’t get any on account of the kits which got her a little on the surly side…or maybe it’s ‘cause she was in a family way that was causing her mood swings. Made dancing a little difficult, too. Kind of hard for a gal to do-se-do with all that weight up front like that.”

Before he could continue to work himself into a frenzy a loud knock sounded from the apartment door. With a frown Nick walked over, barely getting the door open before it was pushed from the other side. An angry looking Finnick entered the apartment, but then the desert fox almost always looked angry. He scanned the room, still used to a life of hustling on the streets where being aware of what was going on was paramount to staying out of both trouble and the hospital. 

The sandy colored fox once more glared at his old friend, paws on his hips, before his expression softened and a grin slowly spread across his muzzle. “She hustled you good!” he cackled gleefully before bursting into a belly laugh that went on for some time until the diminutive fox could catch his breath. “Done hustled you right out your mind!”

“Good to see you, too, Finn,” Nick replied, still too nervous to make one of his normal snarky reposts. “Come on in. Everybody’s trying to keep me from running.”

Finnick pushed a chair from the dining room table to the counter that separated the kitchen from the rest of the large area and helped himself to the smoothies that the older rabbit had made. “You must be the bunny-daddy,” he said, making it a statement instead of a question.

“Er…Stu. Stu Hopps,” the rabbit said with a nervous smile before holding out his paw.

Finnick scowled for a moment before lightly laying some pad on the offered paw then reversing it before turning it into a knuckle bump and blew it up. The greeting left Stu blinking in confusion to which the desert fox chuckled. “Don’t worry, rabbit. You all right. We’ll get you up to speed and you be able to dap with the best of ‘em.” The smaller fox sat on the edge of the countertop and took a long swig of the smoothie then looked at the glass with a curious expression before pulling a small flask out from his back pocket. He held it out to Nick. “Little liquid courage, Wilde?”

The red fox shook his head. “Oh, no. I’ve had that bathtub gin before. Once I was sure I wasn’t going to go blind it made me sick for half a day afterwards,” Nick said holding his paws up. 

“Seriously? You afraid of a little boom-boom? A big strong fox like you?” Finnick asked with a laugh. “More for me, then.” He looked at the other red fox. “How ‘bout it, Uncle Ray. Boom-boom?”

Ray looked at the flask before his eyes narrowed slightly and held out his glass. “Sure. I’m not the one that has to worry about the morning after hangover,” he said as he got up and held out the smoothie to which the desert fox poured a generous dollop of clear liquid into.

“How’s about the father of the bride?” Finnick persisted. “It’s either curl your fur or straighten it.”

“That’s because I’m pretty sure you make it out of industrial cleaner,” Nick said as he watched his father-in-law consider it for a moment as he held out his glass. “Dad, you might want to reconsider that,” the red fox warned more than a little worried that Stu was going to get himself in trouble. 

“Nonsense,” Stu said. He swirled the contents before taking a long drink then smacked his muzzle appreciatively. “Not bad,” the rabbit said before cocking an eye upwards and sniffed. “Taters…bread yeast…extra sugar added for fermentation…” he said with the effect of impressing Finnick. “Didn’t boil your mash long enough. Let it go longer and you’ll get a smoother hooch.”

Nick and Finnick blinked before the smaller fox let out another deep laugh. “Don’t tell me you makin’ the shine out in Bunnyburrow!” he exclaimed once he caught his breath.

“What do you think we do with all that leftover corn and fruit?” the rabbit said as he leaned on the counter next to the fox. “Best thing to beat the chill after working the fields in winter and if you need to it makes a good engine cleaner.”

Ray joined the conversation an listened to the rabbit and fennec as they swapped talk over ingredients, boil time, fermentation tricks and yeasts before getting in on the subject by telling about his home beer brewing experiences, the three leaving Nick out of the conversation. As for the younger red fox he just stared in disbelief until his phone beeped. When he saw it was from Judy he sighed in relief until the picture of his wife, mother-in-law, Mari, another sister named August and Fru Fru came up with the shrew and bunnies other than Judy waving singles at a stallion stripper.

‘Who knew bunnies liked meat markets?’ was the message that was attached with a disgusted looking Judy off to the side of the screen. Almost before Nick could finish reading the text another message popped up. The next pic came up with Judy still looking at her phone but in the back ground his wife’s sisters were staring and drooling while Bonnie had a wide-eyed expression and looked to be fanning herself as the stallion completely exposed himself.

‘Turn around!’ Nick sent with a smirk.

The picture shifted and he suddenly saw the back of his bunny’s head, her ears straight up in shock, before she whipped back around, said ears so far down behind her that the fox couldn’t even see them.

‘Save me!!!!’ was the next text.

The fox smirked as his thumbs flew over the touch screen keyboard. ‘I would but I’m trying to keep Finnick from getting Dad blitzed.’

Instead of a text Nick’s phone buzzed with an incoming call.

“Having fun, Carrots?” Nick asked with his smirk making it into the tone of his voice.

“No! No I’m NOT!” Judy said, her voice almost lost in the bass heavy music that was blasting through the club Fru Fru had taken the bunnies. “Don’t let Dad get too much!”

“What about me?” he asked in surprise. “You’re not worried about me being wrecked for tomorrow?”

“Nope. I know you won’t because you don’t want to ruin our wedding day! But Dad’s a…well, he’ll drink everyone under the table! He’s got like a super liver or something! I’ve seen him drink bulls under the table and be fine the next day, but he gets reckless after a little too much!” There was a commotion before Judy shouted at someone else. “Aaaiiiieeee! Get that thing out of my face!!!”

“You go have fun, lover!” Nick said with a snort. “See you in the morning!”

“No! Wait! Nick! Save meeeee….!”

He disconnected the call, hoping that at least Bonnie would be able to rein things in before they got too bad. Nick looked up as Stu was pouring a little more of Finnick’s offering to the impromptu get-together.

“Was that the girls?” the rabbit asked as he took a straight nip from the flask, surprising the desert fox whose eyes bulged slightly. “Bonnie said something about them going with one of Jude’s friends to a strip club.”

“And you’re cool with that?” Finnick asked with surprise.

Stu shrugged. “It doesn’t matter where Bonnie gets her appetite. I know she comes home for dinner,” the rabbit said as he puffed his chest out a little. “After two hundred and seventy six young’uns I think I got it all figured out how to properly seed a field and I’m doing things right.” He took a sip from his glass. “How come you aren’t having your own shindig with dancing girls?” he asked his son-in-law.

The three foxes laughed but it was the smallest of them that answered. “That’d be a waste,” Finnick said as he drained his glass. “Nick’s one of them foxes what mates for life. You could parade the entire past ten years of girls from ‘Hot Tails’ and it wouldn’t cause him to bat an eye!” He continued to smile. “It’s a mixed blessing, let me tell you. Saves time and money trying to wine and dine the ladies, but even if we could, unless there’s that…that spark, it’s all for nothing.”

Stu blinked and set his glass down as his gaze flicked over the three foxes, feeling oddly calm being the only prey mammal amongst a group of predators, before settling on his son-in-law. “So that’s really a thing? It’s not just a, er, choice, but really happens?”

“Sure as the sun rises,” Ray said while his nephew nodded. “Once a fox that’s like us bonds to his mate, nothing will ever cause him to stray. Why, Marnie and I became bonded way back in middle school. Been together since we were twelve and I’ve never wanted or even been interested in another vixen!”

“Can’t even fool around if you aren’t bonded,” Finnick said as he set his flask on the counter where everybody could get to it. “It confuses you ‘bout as much as being able to jump just about anything that walks by confuses the hell out of us!”

Stu coughed and looked away momentarily. “Not all rabbits are like that…” he said quietly, his ears dipping for a moment. He looked up to Nick. “You’ll never be able to leave Jude? Ever?”

“I don’t want to leave Judy,” Nick admitted. “But if she ever decided to leave me there wouldn’t be any way to stop her, and I wouldn’t be with anyone else.” He shook his head. “It’s her or nothing.”

The rabbit shook his head as he tried to get his mind around the concept. He and Bonnie had been married for years, and while he looked at other females he’d never act on the impulse. He loved his wife and family. But to not have the choice was completely alien to him. He chose to be and stay with his wife. As he turned the thought over, Stu came to the conclusion that there were times it must be lonely to be a fox or one of the other mammals that mated for life.

“I guess it’s good that Judy is about as un-rabbit like as you can get! Sure, she dated in school, been with two or three bunnies, but her mother and I knew that it wasn’t serious. Just a way for her to learn about her own body, really. She used to talk about her great love, how one day she’d find one guy and that would be it. Of course we didn’t listen to her,” Stu said. “Then again, we really didn’t listen to her talking about becoming a police officer, either.” He looked at Nick, a smile slowly spreading across his short muzzle. “Come to think of it, she’s always had a fascination with preds. Kinda strange for a rabbit, but Jude’s never really been a normal bunny.” He pushed his hat back and hooked a thumb in the strap for his denim overalls. “I guess she’s lucky to have found you, huh?”

Nick smiled. “I’m the lucky one. Now, if your wife and daughters and Fru can keep from breaking her with their little bachelorette celebration we’ll be okay.”

Finnick almost choked on his drink and looked at his friend with a shocked expression. “Fru Fru? As in Mr. Big’s Fru Fru?!?” The desert fox began to laugh. “Waitaminute! I thought he still wanted you for that rug you sold him?”

“Things change,” Nick said in an effort to derail the topic. “If you’d keep in touch and not drop off the grid for months on end you’d know that Judy is the godmother of his grandkids.” The red fox tilted his head while his ears twitched up in curiosity. “Speaking of, just where have you been? You didn’t return any calls or messages for the past eight months.”

Finnick mumbled something as he looked away, a frown appearing on his face.

“What?” Nick asked, not sure if he heard correctly.

“I said I was getting my GED, a’ight?” the desert fox growled. “I…I couldn’t…” he began before sagging slightly, Finnick’s ruffled hackles lowering. “Work for the city. Child services…” 

Nick blinked, stunned by the admission. “You? The one he said going legit was for-“

“I know what I said!” the smaller fox snapped, his ire again draining away as quickly as it had risen. “You…you showed me that there was a better way than just hustlin’ mammals, okay? I figured if you could make a difference than so could I!” Finnick twirled his glass uncomfortably. “I don’t wanna see no kits having to go through what we did. The streets ain’t no place for kits…”

Nick stepped over to his oldest friend and put a paw on the smaller fox’s shoulder. “Kinda cool being good guys, huh?”

Finnick looked up and smiled. “Yeah. It feels pretty good.”

Ray gave the other two foxes a surprised look. He’d known that they’d both made their way as small time criminals. Now, to see both of them working for something larger than just themselves was astonishing and filled the older red fox with a swell of affection and pride. Stu looked confused but Ray said nothing. If his past was something that Nick wanted his father-in-law to know then it was Nick’s job to tell him when he deemed the time was right.

The moment was broken when another forceful knock pounded on the door with such sudden intensity that the three foxes and rabbit jumped in surprise, particularly at the shouted, “Police! Open up!”

Nick approached the door cautiously and peered out of the spy hole before shaking his head and opening up. Standing on either side of the frame was Grizzoli, the lion out of the uniform Nick normally saw him in, wearing cargo shorts and polo shirt. To the other side was Delgato, the tiger in jeans and tank top with Fangmeyer and Wolford behind dressed even more comfortably. All of them bore bags of snacks and small coolers. 

“We just found out last night that you and Hopps got hitched!” Delgato said with a wide grin. “And we’re all going to be at the big ceremony tomorrow, so we thought we’d throw a belated bachelor party!”

In front of the quartet of his and Judy’s fellow cops stood a tanuki girl in a very skimpy parody of a police uniform. “So,” she began, her fake uniform hat tilted to the side so that one eye was covered in a faux seductive manner. “I heard there was a certain fox that’s getting married tomorrow…” She pulled a pair of handcuffs lined with fun-fur in blue with hot pink stripes and twirled them around an extended finger. “I’m afraid I’m just gonna have to investigate this…” she said putting a paw on Nick’s chest and steered him into the apartment. “There may be some frisking involved!”

Finnick was laughing out loud while Ray snorted in amusement. Stu choked on his smoothie while staring unabashedly at the scantily clad raccoon dog. As Nick was backing up he cast a dark look at his brother officers to which Grizzoli only smiled while looking at the tanuki girl’s rump and tail.

“Yeah, yeah, Wilde,” the lion said with a grin. “We know all about foxes and stuff, but she’s more for the rest of us to watch dance anyway! We’re not married and it’s okay for us to enjoy a little lookie-lookie!”

“Hey! Got room in the fridge?” Wolford said as he hoisted the case of beer he had and started for the kitchen before seeing finnick. “Wow. Kits already? You and Hopps move fast! Then again, she is a bunny…”

“Who you callin’ kit, hydrant sniffer?!?” the fennec snarled in his trademark deep voice as he jumped up to stand on the counter.

Someone had slung a chair to the middle of the room between the living and dining areas and Nick fell into it as the dancer quickly set up a portable disc player with disturbingly large speakers that what the red fox had come to regard as typical stripper fare began to blast out. The dance routine began with the tanuki running her paws up and down Nick’s chest before spinning around and shaking her tail at the fox, looking back and up at him from between her spread legs, a wide, seductive smile on her muzzle as she flicked his chin with the tip of her waving caudal appendage.

The others started howling and making calls of encouragement as Nick began to plot his revenge on his coworkers, the others misinterpreting the smile on the fox’s muzzle for approval of the choice in strippers.

As some of the dancer’s outfit began to vanish Nick wondered how Judy’s day was going and hoped it was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think a few of you are aware of my penchant for Easter Eggs in my stories. Well, there's one in this chapter! And the first person to get it on the comments list will not only get mad props, but I'll cameo you or a character of your own in a future story! How's that sound?
> 
> And holy smokes!!! Stu knows moonshining! o.O


	19. Chapter 19

The carrot and pear juice cut with a healthy dose of vodka pushed the aching throb between Judy’s ears away enough for her to not scream as another dancer came and dangled his bits in front of her nose, the whole view of deer danglies not in the least appetizing to the bunny. If anyone’s danglies had to be shoved into her face, she wished it could be her husband’s. Despite her sour mood, it seemed that her sisters and mother were immune and hooted along with the other girls at the ‘Zoo-Review Club’ as dancers of all different species stripped and strutted on multiple stages around the lounge. She was beginning to think that Nick’s Aunt Marnie had the right idea of staying home…

“What gives, Jude?” August asked, the golden brown bunny enjoying the attentions of a red panda that was more than happy to toss her pieces of his costume. “This is like the ultimate sausage fest smorgasbord!”

Judy shrugged, trying to appear to have a good time for the others, particularly Fru Fru who insisted on springing for the evening out to celebrate her marriage to the fox that had become more than just her partner on the police. “I don’t want a sausage fest,” she muttered. “I want my Nick.” The guys were cute enough and there’d been a time where she might have enjoyed the offerings of the club. But something had changed…something in her. Nick’s confession had educated her about foxes and their tendency to mate for life. It wasn’t just that she’d always found preds to be exotic, but she was starting to act like one! She’d begged for his mark, and then days later marked him in return, the feeling of it being right, of feeling proprietary domain over her fox, just as he had over her, had been…satisfying.

When another dancer came out to music that was more a mix of electronic and synth instead of bass the others began to hoot wildly. The rabbit was all white with yellow-green eyes and he fixed them on Judy, his expression one of smoldering promise as he started to move to the rhythm, bits clothing flying in all directions as he made his way to the silvery gray bunny. 

“Oooooo!” Fru Fru squeaked in an excited tone. “It’s Rabbitino Lazarro! He’s Zoo-Review’s latest import! Straight from Italy they say! Almost makes me wish I was a bunny!” the tiny shrew declared.

Rabbitino seemed to float across the stage and then down the polished brass pole at the edge, undulating his body with liquid sensuality before his feet touched the carpeted floor. A quick glance showed that Judy’s mother was definitely appreciative of the Italian rabbit’s body, the rippling muscles under the smooth snowy fur while her sisters, August more than Mari, was writhing in her chair with the effect the dancer had. They watched his backside with open leering smiles as he strutted to Judy, his eyes on her the whole time before he set a paw on either side of the back rest and began to undulate before her, his G-string doing little to conceal the mass of his genitals.

“I have been told by others that have danced for you,” the rabbit whispered as he drew close enough to Judy’s head to speak into her ear, his breath warm where it passed over her, “that you are to be wed in the morning. Is this so?” he asked, his accent giving his baritone voice a lilting quality.

Judy nodded as she turned her head when the other bunny got a little too close, the combination of his scent and the cologne he was wearing turning out to be a little too cloyingly sweet for her tastes. As he continued to give her a rather personal dance she gripped the armrests of her seat. “Um…not so close, please…”

The dancer ignored her request. “And is it true that you are getting married to a fox? Have I heard properly from the other bambinas with you…” Rabbitino said as he lifted a leg over the bunny then turned it into a pirouette that carried him behind her chair.

“Already married,” Judy gulped in embarrassment as she indicated her ring. “To-tomorrow’s just the c-ceremony…”

“Ah!” he husked next to her ear. “Then it is not too late! Let me show you why you need to be with your own kind, bambina!” With a twirl he was back to being in front of her, though there wasn’t a stitch on him this time and flaunted his bunny-bits in front of his audience of one. “A fine example of rabbit…such as yourself,” he whispered as he moved close enough so that the heat that radiated from his body was a palpable thing, “should not…be wasted on…a filthy fox!”

The word was spat out like a curse and Judy stiffened in her seat at the vehemence in the dancer’s tone. Taking Judy’s reaction as a cue, the rabbit let his paws come to rest on her shoulders before trailing them down her arms to her knees, then back up her thighs, his thumbs entering an intimate area that only one other mammal was allowed. 

And Rabbitino wasn’t him. 

“Get. Your. Paws. Off. Of. Me. Right. NOW!” Judy snarled.

“You say no, bambina,” the dancer husked as he tried to chin the bunny in front of him to scent mark her, his thick accent dripping with the promise of things he could envision doing to her. “Your body says something completely different!”

With practiced experience Judy grasped the dancer’s wrist before twisting it at the same time she stood, directing the rabbit away from her. Everyone in their immediate vicinity stopped to watch the drama unfold as the bunny turned the dancer and pointed at a sign that was displayed in several locations throughout the club. “Do you see that? It says ‘NO Touching Under Any Circumstances’. Can’t you read, and don’t you know that applies to staff as well as patrons?” A bouncer began to make his way to the disturbance, the hippo pausing as Judy held up her badge without taking her eyes from the rabbit she had in a subduing hold. “Get me the manager,” she ordered in an icy tone.

“Whoa! You’re a cop?!?” the dancer billed and Rabbitino Lazarro exclaimed, his thick Italian accent vanishing to be replaced with one that was most definitely tri-burrows.

“Not too keen on current events, are you?” Judy asked as they began to make their way, one with anger boiling off her, the other as he was led forcibly, even more embarrassed than he should have been for the nudity which had become nakedness and made him feel exceedingly vulnerable. “Yeah. ZPD, and you, whatever your name is, just assaulted a police officer.”

Fru Fru, Bonnie, Marigold and August followed the other bunny as she all but stomped to the reception desk, the shrew being carried by a polar bear that had been introduced as Ivanka. Within moments, Judy maintaining her painful grip on the rabbit, the manager appeared, a tigress in an evening gown who blinked orange colored eyes at the scene.

“Ma’am? Would you please release my dancer? I’m sure that whatever’s happened we can come to…an amicable and beneficial understanding, can’t we?” she asked in an obsequious tone.

“Amicable and beneficial understanding?” Judy repeated with a glare. “I’m here to lodge a complaint that when asked to increase his distance that your dancer refused. I was molested in clear violation of the signage that’s posted in multiple locations that reads no touching.”

The tigress wrung her large paws together in a small display of nervousness. “Let’s go back to my office. I’m sure that there was simply a misunderstanding involved-“

“No,” Judy said with a frown that made it look as if she’d just eated something quite bitter. “There was no misunderstanding. I told this rabbit to get his paws off of me and instead of complying he groped me. I was also propositioned. Do you also condone that kind of behavior?”

“Of course not!” the tigress replied, becoming more agitated by the moment. “Still, I’m sure that we can fix this…”

Getting tired of the effort to dodge responsibility, Judy pulled out her badge again. “Now it sounds like you’re offering a bribe. Are you trying to bribe me? Or are you calling me a liar? Is that how you’ve stayed out of trouble? Dancers cause a scene and you offer them up as…consolation?” She paused to look at the others with her. “Why don’t you take Mom to Uncle Ray and Aunt Marnie’s. This might take a while,” Judy said as she tucked her badge into the waistband of her jeans and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?” the tigress asked, her eyes widening in fear.

“Calling back-up,” Judy answered as her thumb hovered over the touch screen.

Gulping loudly the manager pointed down at the rabbit. “Gilbert, you’re fired. Get your things and get out.” She snapped her fingers at an elephant that stood by the front door to follow the dancer to make sure he left. “Don’t bother coming to get your last check. I’ll mail it to you.” She then turned to Judy. “I don’t run that kind of place. Really! Let me comp your bar bill for the night and here,” she said as she pulled a small stack of door passes out along with drink vouchers. “If you come back your evening’s on me!”

Judy motioned for her sisters to take the peace offering while glaring at the tigress. “And?” she asked, her arms folded across her chest as her right foot beat a rapid tattoo on the floor, her ears fully upright as she glared up at the striped cat.

“Aaaand…Oh! You can be sure that I’ll be talking to all of the staff about proper behavior!” She put one paw on her chest and raised the other in a solemn expression.

“I hope so. You can be assured that ZPD will be keeping an eye on the goings on here for a good long while,” Judy said flatly before turning from the tigress and heading to the door. Once out in the night air she let out a tense breath. “Sorry I ruined everyone’s evening.”

“Don’t you dare apologize!” Fru Fru said, her tiny paws on equally tiny hips. “I can’t believe that! He wasn’t Italian at all! And what he did to you… Daddy’s going to hear about this!”

“Don’t tell me if he’s going to ice anybody!” Judy exclaimed with her paws raised and her eyes closed. “The less I know, the better!”

“Oh, Daddy doesn’t really do that anymore!” the shrew said with a small, uncomfortable chuckle. “He has enough other business dealings to make sure that something like that doesn’t happen to anyone else!” She looked at the watch on her arm. “It’s still early if you want to go somewhere else…”

Judy shook her head. “Thank you, but tomorrow is a really big day. I should probably go home and get some sleep. Not that I’ll be able to sleep. I’m so nervous that I’ll most likely toss and turn all night.”

“Same here, but it won’t be from nerves! That horse guy…!” August said as she blushed and grinned wickedly. “He was longer than I am tall!”

“Girls!” Bonnie admonished. “Behave!” She took her daughter’s paws. “Maybe getting some rest would be a good idea,” the older bunny told Judy. “It is going to be a big day.” She kissed her daughter’s cheek. “We’ll be by in the morning to pick you up, dear. Make sure you’re ready.”

“I will, Mom.”

“And have a good breakfast,” Bonnie added as the limo that had brought them all pulled up and Ivanka opened the door.

“Good idea, that way when I throw up I’ll have something in my stomach!” Judy muttered.

“Oh, no!” Fru Fru said with the tone of experience. “That’ll pass as soon as you see Nick at the end of the aisle looking all handsome! You won’t pay attention to anything else when you see him. Trust me, I know!”

Bonnie nodded as they all got into the limousine. “Fru Fru’s right,” the older bunny agreed. “It was that way with me and your father. I was sure that if the morning sickness didn’t get me, nerves would. But then I saw him, probably the only time other than taking a shower he wasn’t wearing that stupid hat. Oh, he shined up just as handsome as you please with his tux! Your father was already good looking, but that day…” Her expression drifted into something that was both affectionate and nostalgic before she sighed happily.

“It’ll be the same with you, Judy,” the shrew said as the car set off. “And as Nick’s already a good looking guy…I have to remember to tip the photographer so we can get lots of pictures and videos! Daddy’s upset that he can’t be there, but…”

“Give him a kiss from me and tell him we’ll make sure he’ll get all the pictures he wants!” Judy said. She’d been a little nervous that one of the most powerful underworld bosses would want to attend her wedding at the ZPD headquarters. Fortunately Mr. Big hadn’t gotten to where he was by being thick. He’d helped Nick and Judy on more than just the Night Howler conspiracy in the months that followed and both sides had an unspoken agreement to stay out of each others’ ways when possible. 

The limo eventually pulled up outside the apartment over the shop where Nick’s aunt and uncle had their shop, Nick and Judy living in the apartment above. The lights were still on and Judy hoped that she wasn’t interrupting the impromptu bachelor party that some of their coworkers had thrown, though the bunny doubted that it could’ve gotten as out of hand as her own outing. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow!” Judy told them as she got out and headed towards the stairs to the upper level.

As soon as the limo pulled away Judy looked at the flight of stairs and sighed, not really feeling like the climb, even as short as it was. She pulled out her key at the top landing and stuck it in the lock and opened the door expecting the worse. What she found was beyond her imaginings and expectations.

The apartment was just as clean as when she left, if not more so. Nick was putting something in the fridge when he heard the door open and smiled warmly when Judy entered, a finger going to the end of his muzzle before he pointed at the couch. Sleeping in the arms of a strange female was Finnick, his companion holding him to her like a stuffed toy, both of them smiling happily. The desert fox was in a T-shirt while the female was wearing one of her husband’s older shirts that he used when cleaning or doing housework.  
Nick motioned her to the bedroom after killing the lights and making sure the door was locked. Judy’s expression was completely comical as she padded silently into the back room. “Is it my imagination or is Finnick actually curled up with a girl?” she asked with a growing grin.

“Oh, yeah. Her name’s Chryssie. It’s short for Chrysanthemum. She was the stripper that Wolford, Delgato, Grizzoli and Fangmeyer got for me. When she learned that I wasn’t too interested she just decided to stay and hang out when she got to talking with Finn,” Nick told her softly as he pulled the covers on the bed down. “I guess they really hit it off.”

“I’ve never even heard of Finnick hanging around one girl for longer than a couple of hours!” Judy exclaimed as she began pulling off her clothes and dropping them in a hamper. “Is he…you know?”

Her fox shrugged. “Seems that way. Might be having another wedding to go to before too long. Finn’s avoided relationships the same reason I have. Need to find the right one. We’re hardwired that way, I guess.”

Judy snickered as she slipped between the sheets and her husband turned off the lights. “So, I’m a little dense, but what is she? I don’t recognize her.”

“Tanuki,” Nick said as he also got into bed, getting comfortable before pulling Judy almost on top of his body. “Japanese raccoon dog.”

“I should have guessed it was something from that part of the world with a name like Chrysanthemum,” the bunny said with a grin. “So, she didn’t appeal to you?” Judy inquired as she snuggled atop her fox, her arms going about his chest.

“I only have eyes for you,” Nick whispered with a kiss between her ears. “How about you? And just so you know, the pic you sent isn’t getting deleted anytime soon. I might need coercion material at a later date…”

“Oh, god…don’t remind me of tonight,” Judy lamented before telling her husband what happened. “I didn’t know whether I should have been furious, which I was, or mortified, which I definitely was!” She then described what had happened, the feel of her husband stroking her ears keeping her calm.

Nick chuckled softly and gave his bunny a reassuring squeeze. “Well, there’s the old saying about good intentions and the road leading to hell…” He gave his wife another hug and kiss. “Oh. At least I found out what Finn’s been up to.”

Judy actually sat up and blinked several times while her mate told her of the desert fox getting his GED and getting into Zootopia’s Child Services. She never would have guessed at the fennec going that route when she met him a year before and the news stunned her for several long moments.

“Finnick?” Judy asked in amazement. “Child Services?!?”

Nick nodded. “And it can all be traced back to you, love of mine,” the fox said. “You made me want to be more than I was. Because of that, the scam and hustle I ran with Finn dried up and got him to thinking that if I could be better, so could he. So all of this is really your fault.” He lightly tapped the end of her nose with finger pad. “You’re doing it.”

“Doing what?”

“Making the world a better place. One life at a time, but you’re doing it.”

It took three drops on Nick’s chest before he realized that his wife was crying in the dark and sat up to hold her to him, his paw cradling the back of her head after he scooped her up and deposited the bunny on his lap. Rocking her silently, the fox let his wife get over the minor bout of emotions. When she pulled away a few inches her paws cupped his face before kissing him deeply for several long moments that left both of them breathing heavy. “It’s not just me,” she told him, her words barely louder than her breath. “We’re doing it, Nick. Together.”

“Why, yes. Yes we are,” he agreed before kissing her again. “And we’re going to do it again tomorrow, my love, my mate, my dear wife.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No good has ever come from pre-nuptial parties, have you ever noticed that? Seriously. And to me and my closest cohorts are of the mind that if you're in love enough to marry someone, you should respect them enough not to do the stereotypical bachelor/bachelorette party. If anything it's more for the attendees of said soirees. Still, makes no sense...
> 
> Just remember, I never claimed to be normal!


	20. Chapter 20

The day had come with a pink sunrise heralding beautiful weather and comfortable temperatures accompanied by a breeze that was just strong enough to riffle fur and stir the scent of the flowers that sat in vases around the wedding venue. As mammals dressed in suits and dresses mingled with those in ZPD dress blue uniforms Nick scanned those gathered, a bemused expression on his vulpine face. If someone had told the fox just over a year ago that he would be getting married he’d have laughed at them. If they’d said that he would not only be married but that the ceremony would be taking place atop the ZPD headquarters building in Precinct One he’d have run away from such a dangerously unstable individual.

That, however, was precisely where he was and what was happening.

Swallowing down the flutter of his nervous stomach, Nicholas Piberius Wilde prayed that he wouldn’t mess today up, wanting the moments that would come to be as perfect as possible for his beloved bunny. Granted, he and Judy were already married by a Justice of the Peace, but this was so much…more. Friends and colleagues, family members, friends that were as close as kin would all be witnessing their formal declaration to each other in a formal gathering. And ready to show the rest of the city were reporters, some with small recorders describing the event, several with digital cameras, and a couple with video recorders. That alone was enough to give the fox a terrible case of nerves.

Past the brim of his uniform hat, Nick looked up into the rich blue sky with puffy cotton clouds and hoped that his parents, wherever they might be, were happy. It had taken a while, and most of it had been with his wife’s help, but he’d forgiven his father for leaving him at such a young age. And he forgave his mother, surprised that there had been a little kernel of resentment deep in his heart.

In the end, though, all of the things that had happened in his life, the good, the bad, the joy and failures, had blended together to bring him to this moment.

He just hoped all of the hard work paid off and that he didn’t do something incredibly stupid.

“Nervous?” a deep voice asked from behind the fox, causing him to jump in a visible start.

“Yup!” Nick yelped, his eyes a little wide and wild looking as he turned to find Chief Bogo looming over him.

“Wilde,” the cape buffalo began before putting his hoofed fingers on the fox’s shoulder, “Nick…you’ll do fine. This?” he said and gestured to the crowd, “This is nothing. Unlike in the morning when you put on that uniform and come in for briefing before hitting the streets, all of these mammals want to see you and Hopps succeed. They’re rooting for you. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you and your wife have given a lot of others hope where it wasn’t before.” He smiled, perhaps the warmest expression he’d ever had on his face as far as the officers under his command were concerned. “You’ve given me hope.”

Nick sighed, finding the words both comforting and calming. “I...I just wonder if my parents would be proud…if they’d be okay with this. There’s still a long way to go between prey and preds. I never really got to know them well enough to know where they were on this.”

“I think they’d be proud of you, Wilde,” Bogo said with a nod. “I know I am, son.”

Before Nick could react to the compliment, the Chief’s words striking deep and hard enough to cause a surge of pride and pain, the musicians began the music that he and Judy had agreed upon. While the traditional wedding march was just that...traditional, they’d agreed on Bullthoven’s Five Secrets. It was played by officers that also enjoyed music, and the mix of cello, violin, synthesizer, electric guitar and bagpipes was strangely beautiful. Unorthodox, but beautiful nonetheless.

To Nick it seemed that it was a written law somewhere that all police departments had to have at least one decent bagpiper. 

As the band filled the immediate area with song the guests took the seats that were arranged on the grassy roof of the precinct building. Nick had thought it was just part of the ecological reclamation system that was part of almost every building in Zootopia, he didn’t know that the roof was also a small park that was there for the officers of the ZPD to use for blowing off steam or just the simple need for a moment’s relaxation. There was even a track and exercise stations built out of wood for cops that preferred being outside to the gym that was part of the building’s layout. For Nick and Judy it was the perfect place for a small public ceremony to celebrate their union.

Behind the seats and the guests lay the huge glass dome that looked all the way down into the reception area of the precinct and just beyond that the tables where caterers were setting up the nuptial feast that Bogo had ordered. Nick hadn’t seen the cake yet as the confection was hidden behind a sheet that wouldn’t be removed until it was time for the fox and bunny to cut into it. It had been a gift, so Judy had said, from Gideon Grey to celebrate the marriage.

Nick made his way to the small stage that had been put together for the actual participants of the wedding, the whole thing topped with an arched trellis that was woven with vines and multihued roses. As the fox took his place on the dais, he smiled when Finnick took his place as best mammal and Chief Bogo as head usher. The red fox then smiled at the officiator of the proceedings, Judge Shaw more than happy to reprise his role once more. The happy couple had spoken to the tiger and again opted for a nondenominational wedding as the most fitting.

“This is no different than my office at City Hall, Nick,” the Judge said with a beatific smile. “Granted it is a bit fancier, and the food smells so much better than the staff cafeteria! It’s no different, though.”

Nick gave a wan smile in return. “If you say so, your Honor. I think I’ll go ahead and be just a little bit nervous if that’s okay with you.”

Bogo and the Judge both chuckled while Finnick grinned, though he wasn’t really paying attention to the banter that was directed at his friend, his eyes instead locked with the chocolate brown ones of the tanuki girl, Chryssie.

“Hmm. Might have another union to perform, I think,” Judge Shaw said sagely, his nod approving.

Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly, vainly trying to rein in his nerves and refrained from wiping his paws on the legs of his dress uniform. Then the band began their music in earnest and the entire assembly stood to get a look at the bride as she appeared, Stu Hopps escorting his daughter from the small pop-up tent she’d been getting ready in at the far side of the roof.

With a sudden gulp and sucking in of breath that he held, Nick looked at Judy for what felt like the first time in his life. She was still the same gorgeous creature that he’d lost his heart to, but right then, at that moment, the sun fell upon her in a perfect ray that couldn’t have been better timed and caused her to glow with an unearthly beauty.

Instead of a white gown, Judy’s grandmother had made her one that perfectly matched the shades of her eyes, the lavender gown long and flowing with half sleeves that left her shoulders bare. Around her arms billowed a thin, sheer material that flowed like amethyst liquid about her while the hem and patterned accents looked like they’d been made of the actual stone and glinted and sparkled in the sunlight. The gown clung fetchingly to the bunny’s shape and still flowed with every step she took. Around her throat a light purple ribbon had been tied with a silver and ivory cameo fashioned into a rose that had belonged to Nick’s Aunt Marnie while silver earrings hung from Judy’s long ears. Around the bunny’s head was a wreath like hat of purple roses fashioned from silk with a veil of the same ethereal material her sleeves were made from.

To Nick his bride once more looked like a sculpture of living silver with gemstone accents that struck him to his core and he felt the air leave his lungs as his heart ached with the beauty that approached him in a stately, dignified manner, conveyed to his side by her father who wept silently with joy. Then time seemed to jump and the next thing he knew was that his mate was next to him, her paws in his as they gazed at each other, a meeting of gemstone colored eyes that reflected love, warmth and the deepest, truest affection.

“I so don’t deserve you,” Nick whispered with a catch in his throat as his vision blurred with the moisture that suddenly built up along his lower lids and he tried to blink away.

“You deserve someone better,” Judy whispered back, in the same situation that her mate found himself as all of the good things in her life manifested in the fox before her. “All I know is I love you, Nicholas Wilde.”

The deep voice of the Judge brought them out of their temporary reverie and they both listened to the tiger while continuing to gaze at each other with their hearts in their eyes.

“Less than a week ago I had the pleasure and privilege of performing a wedding ceremony for two individuals that were as different as could be, but were united by the greatest of powers,” Judge Shaw told the guests. “Many mammals in our city would scoff or belittle the union between two that evolved from natural enemies. While there are those that would demean and disparage something so unorthodox, something they see as an affront, I see hope. Before you stand a fox and a rabbit. Predator and prey. Nicholas Piberius Wilde and Judith Laverne Hopps. 

“Many would look and see the differences. What I saw, and what they see in each other, are the commonalities that can unite all mammals. They don’t see the differences between them. They see the qualities that they share, and above all, they see love. Love is the great bridge that can span the differences between male and female…predator and prey, fox and rabbit. By sharing this precious thing they have come together to care and support each other and today they share this gift with each of you.

“In over three decades of performing marriages I have never seen a love as great as the one these two before you share. And, believe it or not, they are not the first prey and predator union I have officiated, but theirs will be the one that I will remember until my dying day. Not only for the love that they carry in their hearts, but for their bravery, their daring to say to the entire world that we can all live together in peace.

“I also see this as yet another manifestation of a greater love each of them has been blessed with. Like so many others here, Nicholas and Judith have put on a uniform that makes them stand out from other citizens. They voluntarily put their lives on the line each and every day for the sake of this city, for their fellow mammals, and they toe the line as the defenders of what so many have fought and struggled to make Zootopia. Nick and Judy willingly say every morning ‘Take me in place of another, take me so that someone else can go home to their family’. Everyday they do this. And it doesn’t matter if the ones they protect are prey or predator, male or female, young or old. They don’t do it for this group or that group…they do it for all of us.

“How can we, as the enlightened beings we claim to be, let them risk their own lives every day and not support their union, to celebrate their love? To join together in this day, to partake of their joy in each other, we are thanking them for the sacrifice they may one day be called upon to make. I for one hope that day never comes. I hope that they may pass from this world to the next after many, many years together, and when their light fades from this world that it is done so from the warmth of their beds, surrounded by friends and family, mammals that were fortunate enough to witness lives well spent in pursuit of that most precious of emotions that can, and will, forever change our world for the better.

“Now, if you would indulge an old tiger, I ask that you would stand as I have Nicholas and Judith speak their vows to one another with you fine mammals as witnesses.”

The crowd stood and looked at the couple, the only sound making it to the rooftop venue being the occasional sniffles or soft sobs, oddly enough most coming from Stu. 

The first portion was what Nick and Judy wanted to say to the other before their actual marriage vows that they would say at the Judge’s prompting. Judy had agreed to let Nick go first and watched as he fought to clear his throat, long since giving up on not shedding tears.

“When you first came to me for help, I resented you because you made me take a good long hard look at my life. It was a wakeup call, and no one, no matter who they are, likes those. But you did something else that no else did, not even myself. You believed in me. You saw that I was broken and scarred, hurt and scared, and you showed me how to get back up, dust my fur off and try again. And the darker things got for us, the more dangerous, the more you shined, the stronger you believed in me.

“You gave me hope.”

Nick paused to swallow down the emotions tightening his chest before he continued.

“You offered me friendship and when the time was right, when I learned to stand on my own again, you gave me love. I forgot what that was like and it felt like I’d been in a terrible storm that lasted all through the night before stepping outside into the most glorious sunrise that has ever been. 

“You’ve saved my life…I’ve saved yours, but I’m not keeping score because without you there is no life, no one else I want to be with. You showed me for the first time in my life that someone could see me for who I was, not what I was born as. I love you Judy, and I will until the day I die. Foxes mate for life, you know. You…you are my mate and so much more. You’re my wife and that still doesn’t say everything. And you were the only one that could take my heart and make it hers forever.”

The bunny sniffed delicately, her eyes streaming continuously but she refused to let go of the fox’s paws to wipe them away. Every drop that fell was for Nick, for her, for the wondrous thing that had grown between them and bound the two of them together.

“My precious Nick,” Judy began, her voice carrying the slightest tremor, “when I came to you I was so sure of myself, I wanted to make the world a better place, a safer one, but there was so much that I didn’t know. I didn’t see that there were things in me that I needed to fix, my…my own prejudices…a lack of humility…I was too idealistic. When I’d grown a little more and was ready, you showed me not to give up my ideals, but to hold on to them and use them to be an example. You helped me to grow into my own and the point came when I valued your friendship. From there I came to depend on it…on you…”

Judy had to pause for a small sob and took a deep breath before continuing in a shaky voice.

“Then the night came that you were shot. I-I-I di-didn’t know how b-b-bad it was or if you w-w-were still alive or…or…” She lifted both of their paws to wipe at her face with the back of her wrist and looked up into her fox’s gloriously green eyes and took strength with what she saw within. “So much could have gone wrong, and the only thing I could think of was that I w-w-wo-would lose you before I could tell you I loved you!”

Despite everything they’d promised each other about trying to maintain their composure, Judy threw her arms around Nick, pressing her cheek against the front of his dress uniform.

“I don’t want to do this alone! I need you, you dumb fox! I need you and want only y-y-you! Don’t you ever scare me like that again…”

When Nick put his arms around her it helped to soothe her roiling emotions, feeling his solidity and warmth and the beat of his heart. When the surge of emotions had passed they parted a little, but were still close. 

“I am your mate for the rest of my days. I am your wife. And I don’t care who says that it’s wrong. In here…in my heart…I know that this is right. I love you, Nick…I love you with all of my heart and soul!”

Even Judge Shaw had to wipe at his fiery eyes and smiled as he took half a step forward. “If there are any here that have reason that these two should not be married, stand forth and speak now.” He nodded when no one moved, most of the other uniformed officers looking as if they would physically tackle anyone that dared to speak, no few of the toughest also with damp eyes. “Judy, Nick, if you would please repeat after me; I, please give your full names, do of your own choice…”

“I, Judith Laverne Hopps…”

“I, Nicholas Piberius Wilde…”

“Do of our own choice…”

“Publicly declare our love and intent of union through matrimony…”

“Join joyfully and with clear conscience with the spouse of our choosing. With these vows we do solemnly promise to love, honor and cherish each other until our dying breath, until such time as our union is sundered.”

“Judith, do you of your own free will take Nicholas P. Wilde as your husband at this time?” the Judge asked.

The bunny nodded with a smile pulling her muzzle and eyes into a joyful expression. “I do.”

“Nichols, do you of your own free will take Judith L. Hopps as your wife at this time?” Shaw inquired of the fox.

“I do. With all my heart I do,” Nick said with a decisiveness to his voice that thrilled his wife.

“Have you rings that you wish to exchange?” Judge Shaw inquired.

Nick’s thumb pad touched the ring that was already on the bunny’s finger then gave her a curious look as she turned to Marigold who was standing in the maid of honor’s place. When the yellow furred bunny passed her sister something the fox looked up in surprise as she held a band of red gold like hers, but instead of an amethyst the ring was surmounted by a star emerald, the silvery six pointed star seeming to float within the rich green of the stone. “I got this because it matches your eyes and you are the star that I can guide my life by,” Judy whispered as she put the ring on his finger, a shiver running through her as she did so.

The tiger nodded with a smile of his own. “Then, by the power and authority vested in me by the City and Municipality of Zootopia, do hereby declare you husband and wife…again. May the bonds that you share forever grow stronger, providing succor in your times of want, strength in your times of need, and an example to others in your times of joy. As husband and wife, I now entreat you to signify your union by sharing a kiss before these witnesses gathered on this most celebrated of days.”

They closed the inches that separated them, paws to the other’s face, tender touches to their mate until their lips met in a surge of warmth that radiated from fox and bunny into the other. When they finally parted, Nick lost in his mate’s amethyst eyes, Judy feeling as if she could happily lose herself in the emerald pools of her husband’s, the entire rooftop park erupted in applause and cheering that had to be heard all the way to the heart of Savannah Central.

The Judge placed a paw on each of the couple’s backs, a grin stretching his muzzle almost from ear to ear. “Family! Friends! Colleagues! Let me be the first to publicly present to you Mr. Nicholas Wilde and Mrs. Judith Hopps-Wilde! I ask that you give them welcome!”

Nick and Judy turned to see that the entire gathering was still on their feet, paws clapping as loudly as they could, several of their closest kin and friends holding onto one another as they cried openly, one of them being Benjamin Clawhauser who was holding both Stu and Bonnie to him as he wailed like a cheetah cub.

“I think I need insulin,” Finnick commented from the side of his muzzle though when the happy couple looked down it was to see the normally surly fox beaming, the fur of his cheeks darker than the rest with moisture.

“All right you two,” Chief Bogo said with a thick voice. “People are hungry and you’re holding up lunch. Get a move on!” he prompted good-naturedly.

Paw-in-paw with their arms twined, Nick and Judy stepped off the small dais and smiled at the guests that cheered them as they made their way to the table that was set aside for them. Both watched as Finnick took the paw of the tanuki, a look of awe and wonder on the desert fox’s face. “Whatever we have is catching,” Judy whispered with a soft laugh.

“I don’t think that’s all that bad a thing,” Nick replied just as quietly. “I think the world could always use more love, don’t you?”

“Mmmmm!” the bunny agreed, snugging herself a little tighter against her husband’s arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And sugar-fluff overload!!!!
> 
> Even I need to recover from that one!


	21. Chapter 21

The table for the wedding party itself was ‘U’ shaped with Nick and Judy at the head, the bunny sitting to her husband’s left with her parents, Marigold and August while Fru Fru was actually on the table with her own place setting fit specifically for her. On Nick’s right were Finnick, the desert fox’s date, Chryssie, his Aunt Marnie, Uncle Ray, and Chief Bogo. The plates that were delivered by the caterers consisted of spinach, broccoli and sweet peas in a thick butter sauce between layers of phyllo dough. Other courses included a sweet shredded carrot salad with golden raisins, fresh greens, sautéed soy chunks for the carnivores, fish for the feline guests, and finally custard with fruit compote for dessert. There was no alcohol as it had been discussed that actual wines and beers would be in bad taste as the Zootopia Police Department was hosting the event and having uniformed officers getting tipsy could be bad for the public face of things.

Nick and Judy were only mildly interested in the menu, not that they were able to get more than a few bites down in the moments where guests weren’t clinking on their glasses for the couple to share a kiss. Apart from that the luncheon was more than enjoyable and both sat close together, their paws linked, as the catering staff cleared away the dishes.   
The peace of the moment was broken when the sound of another glass being tapped drew everyone’s attention, though instead of another call for a kiss from the happy couple, it was Finnick calling for the gathering to give him a chance to speak. The desert fox set down the butter knife and looked a little flustered before shrugging and actually getting on the table.

“Now maybe y’all can see me,” he said in his uncharacteristically deep bass voice. There were chuckles and laughs from the various tables as Finnick took a steadying breath, stealing a glance at his date, the tanuki nodding with a wide smile of encouragement. “I was told…after I agreed to be Nick’s best mammal, that I was supposed to give a toast. I’ve never done nothing like this. Heh! I ain’t never been to a wedding!” 

There were more laughs this time and Nick himself chuckled softly, realizing that his old partner in street cons and hustling was trying to use all the tricks he’d picked up over the years to work the crowd but his discomfort was causing some problems. When the other fox sighed and shook his head Nick and Judy both just watched, unsure what was coming next.

“I was caught off guard when I was asked to be best mammal. I’ve never been one for big crowds. So, if I get nervous and mess this up, it’s your fault,” Finnick said as he pointed to Nick and gave him a mock snarl that lasted for a moment before the desert fox’s expression melted into one of sincerity. “Nick and I have known each other since he was about…” he began and raised his paw about head height before lowering it to elbow level on the fennec. “Yay high…so a really long time.

“I could tell you about how hard he had it as a kit, but that’s his story to tell. What I will tell you is that he’s the best friend I ever had and if I ever needed help he was the first one to give it. I’ve seen him give away the last few dollars in his pocket so some poor kid out on the streets could get a good meal, or clothes or…or…”

The desert fox had to pause to wipe his face and shivered a little as he tried to get his emotions in check before continuing, his voice thicker when he resumed.

“When he told me he was gonna become a cop I thought our friendship was done. No way I was gonna be friends with no blue suit. It wasn’t until later I heard about what he and Judy did for the city. It got me to thinking maybe ol’ Nick was maybe doing the right thing after all. It was still hard to deal with, but I worked through it.

“Then the day came when we ran into each other again. It wasn’t by accident either. Nick and I would always meet up to talk about things in the past and he had something that was pulling his tail something bad that day. So we headed to the waterfront like we used to so we could sit and watch the water and the ships coming in. It was a good way to get us in the mood to talk.

“I guess we’d been there for ‘bout an hour when Nick says, ‘Finn, I’m in love,’. That’s kind of a big thing for a lot of us foxes because a lot of us mate for life. So I asked him who the lucky vixen was. He just looked at me with this sad sort of look that I ain’t seen since his ma passed and told me he was in love with his partner.

“Oh, he eventually told me that she was a rabbit.

“I did about the worst thing that I could and I laughed at him.”

Finnick looked around the gathering before his attention turned back to the subject of his story, his face completely miserable. 

“I wasn’t a very good friend, was I?

“I knew then that I was wrong, but I ain’t never heard of anything like that happening before! Preds and prey just didn’t fall for each other like that, and if they did they sure didn’t tell no one else about it! But then I saw the look in his eyes and I knew…I mean I knew! He was dead serious. 

“I could go on and tell you how all that eventually turned out, but y’all saw that ‘bout an hour ago. What you don’t know is that I did some checkin’ around and found out what he and Judy had been doing, how they had one of the best arrest records for any cops in the city, ‘specially for rookies. Or how ‘bout how much of a difference they make wherever they go? I don’t know what it is, but they make other mammals want to be better than they are.

“I won’t lie. They did the same to me. Made me get off my tail and go back to school. They made me want to get my diploma. And they made me want to stand up and do the same thing of trying to make the city better, too. Ain’t no way I could become a cop, so I decided to try and get into a place where I could stop trouble where it starts a lot of the time by working for child services.”

Finnick stood a little straighter though it really didn’t help his actual height and let a smile tug at his mouth. “I think that’s the point of me getting up here and making a fool of myself.” He pointed at Nick and Judy, choking slightly on the expressions of affection on their faces. “The Judge was right, you know. You two make other mammals want to be better…you made me want to be better. And you give me hope.” Tears were rolling down the fennec’s cheeks and muzzle. “If there were ever two mammals that were better made for each other I ain’t seen ‘em,” the desert fox said, finally losing his composure completely. “I want the two of you to be around for a long time so you can keep showing us how to be better,” Finnick finished with his glass of blueberry juice and club soda raised in honor of the couple, the rest of the gathering following suit.

When the toast was done, still on the table, Finnick stepped up to the other fox and his bunny bride and all but launched himself at Nick. “I ain’t never said this to no one but my ma so don’t you bust my chops or I’ll gnaw your face off…but, I love you, bro…” the desert fox said in a voice full of emotions that hadn’t seen the light of day in front of others in years. When Judy added herself to the embrace, giving the fennec a kiss to his cheek it was all the smaller vulpine could do not to completely lose it right there. 

After several moments Finnick slid free, his large ears darkening in a deep blush of embarrassment before he hopped down to go and gather himself in private, Chryssie giving her date a few minutes alone before following after.

“Well,” Nick said as he wiped at his fur, “I never thought I’d see that!” He smiled as Judy nuzzled herself under his chin.

The bunny nodded. “Maybe we really are helping the world to change,” she said, simply enjoying where she was for the moment.

There was silence for a few moments before Bogo stood. “I have to agree with your friend,” the cape buffalo said in his booming voice. “But for now this is a celebration! You!” he said pointing a large finger at the raccoon DJ that had set up his equipment off to the side. “I think it’s time for the traditional first dance for the happy couple,” Bogo said before turning to Nick and Judy and pointing at the rabbit. “And you better save a dance for me or you’ll be on parking duty for the rest of the year.”

Judy grinned when the Chief threw her a wink before she got up with Nick and headed to the grassy spot that had been set aside for dancing, the other guests gathering around as the couple faced each other.

“You know, this is the one thing that has me scared beyond belief,” the fox admitted as he faced his bride. “I’m not the best dancer…”

“You’ll be fine,” Judy told him softly as she placed her paw in his, the other resting on his chest as his left paw slipped around her waist. “There’s no one here but us.”

The music started, a rift on flute and accoustic guitar that started Nick moving, using the way he held the bunny’s paw to lead her in conjunction with the one around her waist. As Judy followed her husband’s lead her eyes widened slightly as she recognized the song. She’d caught him indulging in his enjoyment of older music more than once and found that some of them she truly enjoyed even though they were popular before either one of them had been born. She’d learned that the one playing had been one of the favorites of Nick’s mother, though the instrumental portion had been updated.

“Oh, Nick!” she breathed as he spun her around and began to sway in time to the music while the vocals began.

Judy listened to the words, Nick singing softly along with the lyrics, and became completely lost to the moment as he gazed at her, his eyes seeming darker and more intense than she’d ever seen them before and it felt as if she could see into his soul and just what she meant to him. It was a revelation of unbelievable depth and power and took her breath away.

As they moved to and fro, the distance between the fox and bunny closed so that they were almost pressed against each other, Judy still lost in pools of emerald fire that filled her vision and the feel of Nick moving with her, his heart beat easily felt through his uniform, so strong and reassuring…

As the last few notes of the song played, Nick lifted Judy as high in his arms as he could before spinning with her, the bunny’s ears and gown flaring out as she kicked one foot up in joy before he brought her back down to him, holding her off the grass as he gently crushed her to his chest, his muzzle meeting hers in a kiss. It was tender and warm and seemed to be made of all the things that Judy loved, the warm sun, the smell of spring grass, the scent of autumn leaves, but most of all it was filled with the essence of her husband and she thought that her heart would burst with everything she felt. They parted when the bunny sobbed softly, her arms wrapping around Nick’s neck as she held herself to him for several moments.

When she drew back, her feet still dangling in the air she couldn’t help the tears of happiness that coursed through the fur of her cheeks as she looked at her mate with heavily lidded eyes, never knowing that anything could feel as good as she felt now, holding and being held.

“I think…” she tried to say, her voice failing as the fox gently set her down. “I think I’m the luckiest bunny in the world…”

Nick nodded as he wiped her fur dry, his smile one of infinite tenderness and affection. “Then I get to be the luckiest fox,” he husked. “We better go back to the table for a few, though. I think others are wanting to dance, and you promised your Dad and Bogo a turn. I don’t want you to be too tired for them or I’ll get in trouble.”

Judy smiled but as they turned to head back to their seats they saw everyone staring at them until someone started clapping, the applause spreading until bunny and fox smiled and started walking, both of them with deep blushes that spread from their ears to their cheeks, each thankful that that their fur hid their embarrassment for the most part.

“I thought you said you couldn’t dance,” Judy said as they got back to their chairs, fresh glasses of juice and club soda waiting for them as the bunny fanned herself, her flushed state having less to do with the warm sunlight then the effect that Nick had on her and the dance they just shared which she would remember for the rest of her life.

“I, um…I had someone give me lessons…” Nick said as his ears pressed back against his head in chagrin.

“When?” the rabbit asked with an amused chuckle.

“When I said I was going to the gym the other night,” Nick answered uncomfortably.

“Who?”

The fox looked at his wife, an expression one of being trapped in a corner.

“Whoooo?”

“Cl~cough!~ser…”

Judy blinked slowly. “Did…did you just say Clawhauser?” she asked in disbelief.

Nick shrugged with a shy grin. “You might not think it, but he’s a really good dancer.” Glancing to the spot in the grass where other guests were having fun and cutting up the fox gestured with his chin tossed in that direction. “Don’t believe me? Look for yourself!”

Judy whipped her gaze in that direction where the portly cheetah was dancing with Marigold, the big cat moving with surprising grace and fluidity despite his size. “Oh…sweet berries…” she breathed. “He is good!” she whispered in awe. “How did…I mean…?”

“I told him I’d workout with him twice a week in payment to try and help get his weight down,” Nick confessed. “I’m also getting him to cut down on the donuts and sodas.”

Judy shook her head. “No! I mean how did he get so good at dancing?!?”

The fox grinned. “His parents own a dance school. Or at least they did before they retired.” Nick leaned his head close to his wife’s. “It looks like Mari’s having a good time, though.”

“Wow. She really is,” the bunny said as she watched her sister spinning and gyrating with the cheetah.

“And it looks like you better get ready because a special someone wants the next dance,” Nick pointed out as Stu stepped up, the rabbit looking rather dapper in a traditional tuxedo.

“Another one of my girls has done gone and gotten all grown up,” the older bunny said with a quaver to his voice as his lower jaw trembled slightly.

“Maybe,” Judy said as she got up and stepped to the circle of her parent’s arms, “but I’ll always be your daughter no matter what.”

Nick had to hand it to Stu for keeping his emotions under tight control and not breaking down right there, though Judy didn’t give him much of a chance as she led him out to the grass for a dance. With a smile on his muzzle the fox watched father and daughter as somewhat slower music played allowing them to enjoy a moment together, Stu saying something that Judy smiled and nodded to before answering. Nick wondered what it would be like for him to be in Stu’s position and if he’d be able to maintain his composure as well. 

Since confessing to Judy what he felt and the resulting relationship the fox found it less and less necessary to bury his emotions. He’d always have his mischievous side, it had become his armor to deal with the world as a whole, but with Judy, even the friends and colleagues on the force, there was no reason to hide. It was still a lesson he was learning, undoing the years of the garbage Nick had layered on himself, the walls he’d built from running the seedier side of Zootopia.

So much change…so much good brought on by one small bunny…

No. Not just Judy. Nick had wanted the mammal he really was to run free once more, to face the world with a real smile instead of the fake one that had come with a price. Now, though…now the smile came with a reason behind it and that reason danced with her father in a gown that made her look like the most exquisite thing he’d ever seen. His wife had brought him back, helped him reclaim little pieces of his life he thought were lost forever. They hadn’t been lost, just buried.

The fox was pulled out of his reverie by a gentle paw on his shoulder and looked up to see Bonnie Hopps and his own Aunt Marnie, both looking resplendent in their dresses of dark green for the fox and dual shades of blue for the bunny. “You aren’t sitting this dance out either, Nick,” his aunt said as she tilted the chair to force her nephew up. “Bonnie gets her turn now and I get the next slow dance.”

“No rest for the wicked,” Nick said with an exaggerated waggle as he held out his arm for his mother-in-law and escorted her to the dance area, winking at his wife as he took Bonnie’s paw and put his other on the bunny’s matronly waist.

Nick and Bonnie spun slowly though with a bit more style than others, the lessons that Benjamin had given helping the fox determine the best way to move with the tempo. When he looked at his mother-in-law he was surprised by the amused expression in her indigo hued eyes.

“You know, I was crushed when Judy blurted out that you were her husband,” the bunny admitted. “Even though Stu and I have been working on our biases and the way we look at others, particularly foxes, we still have a long way to go. I just want to tell you that I see you for what’s really in here, Nick,” Bonnie said as she patted his chest lightly, her expression open and honest. “I just want you to know that I’m sorry for judging you before I got a chance to know you.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Nick said with a smile. “We’re all guilty of that at some point.”

The bunny shook her head. “No. No, it’s not all right, Nick, dear. But we are trying, and we can teach the little ones to be better than us. Thank you for being so understanding. And thank you for that,” Bonnie said with a twitch of her head towards the spot where Judy danced with her father. “You’ve made my bun-bun a very happy young rabbit. I just want the best for both of you.”

“She’s made me happy, Mom,” Nick said softly. “Happier than I ever thought I could be.”

The older bunny patted the fox’s cheek affectionately. “Out of all the ones she could have married, I’m glad it’s you she chose.”

There wasn’t any reply that Nick could give and only smiled, feeling a sense of family that he hadn’t since he was a kit. When the music ended he slipped his arms around Bonnie and sniffed lightly. “Thanks, Mom,” he whispered. “Thank you for so much…”

His attention was drawn by a paw on either shoulder and turned to find Stu and Judy both looking at him with knowing expressions, smiles on their muzzles and added themselves to the moment, encircling Nick with warmth and acceptance, supporting him as he felt a momentary weakness with the emotions that crashed within him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I originally had a song in this chapter, but I decided I didn't want my personal troll haranguing me for copyright garbage even though it was used with permission. If you're interested in what it was, go here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpHIazW3NWA
> 
> Great song, great group, and I thought this was a pretty good chapter!


	22. Chapter 22

Grass seed still fell out of clothing and fur as Nick and Judy made it to the door of their apartment and the young couple tried to get as much of it out and off before dropping it all over the floors and throw rugs inside. Both were fairly sure that the cruiser that had dropped them off at Chief Bogo’s orders would stop at a service station before heading back to Precinct One so Officer Wolford could vacuum the back seat.

“I wonder where the tradition of throwing grass seed at the bride and groom came from,” Nick mused as he brushed his wife off, taking particular joy in fluffing the fur of her tuft of a tail to get out the seeds stuck there and let his paws roam a little in a playful manner.

“It’s from the belief that the grass seed signifies prosperity and fertility. I’m not sure where it started from, though,” the bunny told him, giggling as she felt herself getting a little more than a brushing off. “Why, Mr. Wilde,” Judy admonished in a light tone. “I will not be pawed at so. Why, if my husband found out he’d be very cross with you!” She batted his questing fingers away with a sound of reproach before turning her nose up in the air. “I should warn you, he’s not a mammal to be trifled with lightly.”

Nick grinned at the bit of role play, something they’d both discovered was fun. “Is that so?” the fox asked as he moved in close behind his wife, his paws going from her tail to around her waist as he pulled her tight against him, Judy letting her head fall back against his chest as her mouth opened in a long sigh, her eyes fluttering closed. “I’m not afraid. Besides, he shouldn’t let such a ravishing creature out of his sight. If you were mine I’d never let you alone,” he told the bunny as he nuzzled the soft, warm fur of her neck. “I’d get up an hour earlier every day just to make love to a beauty such as you.”

Judy gasped with delight as he nipped gently at her neck before moving up to do the same to the spot just behind her ear, her fox having discovered several places she hadn’t known that brought out unbridled passion and desire. She was oblivious to everything save the things that her husband was doing to her and didn’t hear him open the apartment door. When he scooped her up in his arms she yelped in surprise, one arm automatically wrapping around his neck while the other rested on his chest. “Are you going to ravish me?” she asked in a soft tone while looking up at Nick through her lashes, a winsome smile on her partially opened mouth.

“I don’t know about ravishing you,” Nick said as he carried his bride across the threshold. “I do plan on making love to you until we both pass out, though.”

“Mmmmm! I like the sound of that, Mr. Wilde.” Her paw moved to loosen the tie at his throat. “But then I’m a little biased. Do you know how scrumptious you looked in your uniform today? It was so hard to behave,” the bunny pouted as her fingers got the top button of the collar unfastened before moving to the next one down. “I kept having these fantasies of finding some place just out of sight where you could have your way with me…maybe the chance of someone discovering us adding to the moment…”

Nick swallowed hard and looked at his wife. “This coming from the same Judy that was scandalized by all the nude mammals at ‘Oasis Springs’? You have become such a naughty bunny, Mrs. Hopps-Wilde!”

“Yeah,” Judy agreed as she nuzzled her nose under the fox’s chin and against his throat, returning some of the love nips, knowing that it was one of the most effective ways to get her Nick worked up. “But I’m only naughty with you…” She could feel her mate’s breathing becoming more rapid and labored with his own building desires as his pulse sped up. Her eyes opened slightly, reveling in the feeling of being held in her husband’s arms when she noticed that things were a little different in the apartment. Lifting her head and looking around her mouth fell open. “Nick…?”

No sooner had Judy noticed that things were not as they’d left them in their home then Nick stiffened slightly, his nose working overtime as he sampled the air. “Does it smell like polar bear in here or is just me?”

“Look at the kitchen,” Judy said softly as she indicated the fox to put her down. Her tail fur fluffed with the sudden surge of adrenaline, her husband having almost the same reaction and reached out to flip the switch that would turn on most of the lights.

“Um…I think we’ve been robbed, but I’ve never heard of burglars replacing the things they took with brand new stuff,” Nick said with a frown. His head whipped around to the living room area and saw that his TV was gone, the one that sat on a different stand being large enough so that the fox could put it on the roof of the building to show movies to the entire neighborhood. “What the…”

As her mate looked around in confusion Judy saw that the table had a vase of flowers on it, the cut crystal filled with at least two dozen red roses that filled the immediate area with their subtle perfume. “Nick?” the bunny said as she drew near and reached for a pink envelope that was leaning against the vase, her and Nick’s name both on it. Being the consummate police officer she looked at the envelope carefully before picking it up, her eyes narrowed as her nose worked overtime. On the back was an embossed ‘B’ in classic calligraphy style. As soon as she saw that the bunny lost the suspicious expression, her mouth stretching into a grin as her eyes softened. “It’s from Mr. Big!”

Inside the slip of paper was a congratulatory card of red and white roses, the artwork accentuated with glitter. Inside was a fairly generic platitude with another ‘B’ penned in at the bottom and a quick scrawl. “It says to play the DVD in the player…” Nic muttered before stepping to the couch and picking up the remote. With a click the TV came on, the flat screen HD more than both Nick and Judy would make together in a month, the same going for the player and sound system. When the startup screen finished the two were greeted with an impossibly gigantic version of the notorious Mr. Big sitting in his customary leather chair, the shrew appearing absolutely gigantic on the screen.

“Are you sure this thing is working?” the shrew groused, his prodigious eyebrows first going up before dropping back down in a frown as someone off screen muttered an answer. “Very well,” the arctic shrew muttered in his high, gravelly voice. “My dear Judy, I would like to say congratulations at this time on your recent nuptials and hope that you will accept these gifts as tokens of my affection and as a wedding present. Granmamma always said that the heart of any home is the kitchen so I have taken the liberty of bestowing my contribution to yours so that it will always be ready to meet the needs of your family and friends. You have my blessings, sweet bunny. And of course I ask that you come visit your godchildren soon. They are quite fond of their Godmother Judy and miss you.”

Judy tilted her head slightly as she smiled, her ears dropping in affection. “Awww!”

Mr. Big had smiled, a rather frightening sight with his image taking up most of the screen, but that smile vanished and was replaced by the tiny mobster’s normal scowl. “And that brings us to Nick,” the shrew said, the inflection he used causing the fox to jerk back slightly. “I am most pleased that you have done the proper thing and made an honest bunny of our dear Judy. This fortuitous turn of events, and you doing right by her, makes me very glad that I didn’t ice you. I have instructed that you should receive these gifts also as a token of my affection and esteem. As you are married to the godmother of my grandchildren this now makes you family, and family takes care of family. As of this moment we will never speak of past transgressions that we may or may not have committed against each other and we shall start anew.”

The image of Mr. Big leaned closer to the camera, the softening of his expression giving way to a tooth-filled smile. “Congratulations and blessings my dears!” he said and kissed both paws then acted as if he threw those at the camera before the picture blanked.

“That was so sweet!” Judy said with her finger tips touching her muzzle.

Nick gave his bunny bride a curious glance. “Yes, very sweet. Can we keep that disc in case we have a disagreement and I suddenly wind up in the river?”

“Papa B wouldn’t hurt you, Nick,” the bunny said as she made her way to the kitchen to examine all of the new appliances. “He knows that would make me sad. He really is a caring mammal if you’d give him a chance.”

The fox chuckled as he unbuttoned his uniform jacket and finished unknotting his tie. “Papa B? So it’s ‘Papa B’ now, is it?”

“Well…yes…” Judy said as she eyed the KitchenArt multipurpose mixer. “Wow. This thing looks like it belongs in Darth Badger’s bathroom…”

Before Judy could poke, prod or touch the buttons of any of the gadgets Nick again scooped her up, the bunny yelping in surprise. “Get the light and door,” her husband said as he carried her to the switch and lock, nodding when she turned off the lights and clicked the deadbolt into place. “Good. There are more important things right now than appliances and mobsters and everything else,” Nick told her with a serious expression.

Judy giggled. “And what might that be?”

Nick shook his head as he carried his wife into the bedroom, pausing to tilt his head for kiss, their lips barely brushing before he deepened the kiss, his exploration letting them taste the other, hints of blueberry juice still faint and accentuating the natural flavor of the other. The bunny couldn’t help the soft moan that sounded deep in her throat as she tightened her hold on her mate, her body writhing against his with the sudden conflagration of desire that filled her. Judy liked the decadent feelings her husband brought to her, the appetites he whetted. And she marveled that it was Nick that she felt these things with and for.

When they parted each was breathing heavily, their eyes hungry as they gazed at each other with longing, gem colored eyes lit from within by their affection and emotions. Then the bunny’s feet touched down on the plush throw rug of the bedroom floor as Nick slowly helped her out of her dress. As she stepped free of the fabric she watched as the fox immediately put the gown on a hanger and the hat like wreath of fabric flowers and veil on the dressing table before removing his uniform, facing her and keeping his eyes on his wife’s. Instead of hanging it up he draped it over the back of a chair. It would wait until morning…his mate wouldn’t.

When Nick darted back to Judy, an almost predatory gleam in his eyes, the bunny felt a thrilling shiver run through her, once more the subconscious reaction to predators, her husband included, manifesting as something else and she began to quiver in anticipation. “Nick…” she whispered, her paws touching his face and upper body as he lifted her up and carried her to the bed. “Oh…oh…Nick…” She felt herself come to rest on the mattress and comforter, the fox looming above her as his paws moved all over her before tugging the strapless bra she’d worn under her gown off. 

Judy liked it when her mate undressed her, enjoying the one aspect of her life that she didn’t mind giving up control over. For a bunny she was normally decisive, assertive and outgoing. But with Nick she liked being dominated occasionally. Mostly their intimate moments were shared as equals, but every so often, Nick had to give in to his nature dominate, to be the predator, and Judy would, for the love in her heart for her mate, submit, liking the momentary release of control so she could simply enjoy it. It wasn’t demeaning, however. If anything, even in his most assertive, Nick was almost reverent in his treatment of his bunny, almost worshipping her as he took control. It was satisfying and liberating and altogether special.

A shiver ran through her as his paws lifted her arms over her head before running his claws gently through her fur, around her neck and throat, down her sides and chest. The touch to her breasts caused her to gasp with the electric sensations of Nick’s claws and finger pads touching her in very sensitive places all along her body. When the mood struck her it was like the rabbit’s entire body became one big erogenous zone that her fox knew just how to tantalize. It wasn’t until his paws, continuing their long petting strokes of her entire length, made it to her feet that Judy realized Nick had neatly skinned her panties off and now looked at her gloriously nude form. 

Judy liked the feeling of being stared at by her mate, but when he made no move to resume touching her she became confused. “Nick?” she asked, her eyes opening, the ambient light enabling her to see her fox clearly. “Is there something wrong?” She could see the gleam in his eyes as he shook his head silently, could hear his breathing, could feel where he sat straddling her feet. 

“I…it’s just one of those moments where I try to understand that this…that you…us…it’s all real. This is where my life has brought me. It feels like…like a dream sometimes.” The sound he made was somewhere between a chuckle and a soft sob. “And I don’t know how you make me feel this way…and I don’t know why I feel…safe, or that it’s okay to let you see how much you get to me…”

Judy’s breath caught as her heart lurched and a lump formed in her throat. Sitting up she threw her arms around her husband and held tight, her face pressed into the rich, thick fur, her ear hearing the rapid patter of the fox’s pulse. It was a sound she loved to listen to as much as she loved her mate. “It’s real,” the bunny told him. “It’s real, and you’re here…I’m here…and I’m not leaving you. Sometimes dreams do come true.” She felt it when drops of moisture dripped onto her head. “I love you and I’m never going to let you go.”

When Nick’s arms enfolded her body and his head came to rest on hers it was all Judy could do to try and push what she felt into him. The embrace lasted for long, tender moments and Judy felt it as their heart beats slowed and meshed, thumping together in perfect harmony with the others.

“You foxes,” she breathed, her nose burying itself in his warm undercoat. “So emotional…”

The bunny could feel where his muzzle lay between her ears as it stretched into a smile, her own forming in response. “I love you, Judy,” he told her, his words felt as well as heard as she held her mate tight.

Letting her grip loosen, the bunny reclined slowly. “I know,” Judy breathed. “I feel it in every touch…I see it every time you look at me and hear it every time you say my name.” Her head came to rest on the pillow and she stretched as she held her arms up, her paws gently pulling at her fox. “But I like it when you show me, too…”

Nick looked at her with awe as he adjusted the way he was sitting before stretching out over his wife, feeling her encouragement as she opened herself before guiding him into the most intimate of embraces. The initial moments were always a wonder and with a shared sigh they joined together, neither being predator or prey, but mates, husband and wife…as lovers. Kisses and nibbles were interspersed between gazing at each other lovingly while their bodies writhed in tender ardor, the moment stretching into an infinite timelessness of sensation and need, desire and affection.

“Oh…god…Judy…!” Nick husked, his voice colored with a soft whine of pleasure and passion as his body began to tremble. 

The bunny relished the expression on the fox’s face as he advanced and retreated, his attentions beyond satisfying and brought him down atop her and held him there. “Yes!” she hissed in response. Nick always looked so different when they reached the pinnacle of passion, his eyes pleading, so open and completely without defenses. It was precious to her and she treasured these moments as something beyond the physical. Then she fell into the abyss of ultimate release, following her Nick into the experience that she’d only experienced with him, climax claiming both at the same time and turning the world into something that was beyond physical.

As the world shattered and slowly came back together Nick and Judy lay panting, ripples of ecstasy passing through one and into the other before returning and starting all over again. Like she often did, the bunny cried softly with the power of her orgasm and curled up against her husband as he rolled to his side, the feel of his arms around her, his tail over her hip and laying along the line of her back so wonderful after making love. They touched, petted, caressed and shared small kisses in the dark in happily tired loveplay.

“Take me there again…” Judy whispered as she closed her eyes, letting her paws tell her the story of Nick’s body, repeating the same words that she said on the night he’d proposed when they celebrated in the Botanical Gardens by the waterfall. “Take me there as often as you can, my beautiful Nick…my husband…”

Instead of immediately complying, the fox let his paws roam his wife’s form, finding her so wonderful to touch, to hold. “Judy?” he whispered, waiting for her to lift her head a little as he looked into the deep amethyst of her eyes. “Do you know why I enjoy making love to you so much?”

A smile teased at the bunny’s mouth as she bit back the urge to give the obvious reply. “Why?” she finally asked, her voice thick with the lingering afterglow.

“Because it’s the closest I’ll ever get to being able to curl up in your heart and wrap myself in love,” Nick whispered in a tremulous voice. “I think that if there is a heaven, that’s got to be what it’ll feel like. Just warmth and love.”

“Damn it, Nick!” Judy cried as she latched onto her fox as her heart melted. He said the most beautiful things at times that seemed to hit with a physical force. “How do you do that?” the bunny wailed as she buried her face in the fur of his neck and shoulder, her own body shivering with soft sobs. 

“It’s true…”

“I feel the same way,” the bunny admitted when she could speak.

They made love many more times, resting in each other’s arms until the sun began to paint the eastern sky. The city came to life outside their personal cocoon of love and affection and as the sounds of vehicles and mammals starting their day made it to them through the walls and windows fox and bunny simply lay together touching or drawing patterns in the fur of their mate, simply enjoying the closeness and warmth.

“Ready to get back to work tomorrow?” Judy asked softly, feeling completely satiated and exhausted with a delicious soreness to her body that came from an entire night of intimacy and ecstasy.

Nick nodded slowly before answering. “Believe it or not I am. I feel bad enough about taking almost a whole week off, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything because it was with you.”

Judy smiled and snuggled closer to her husband, stifling a yawn as she basked in the warmth radiating off of his body. “Me too. You don’t mind waiting to have a honeymoon until a later date?”

“I don’t mind,” the fox admitted, nuzzling the bunny’s neck. “It gives us something to look forward to.” 

“It does,” she mumbled settling in and letting her eyes slowly close. “Besides, we owe Bogo for everything he did. And I’m still trying to puzzle that one out.”

Nick snorted. “I figured that out a bit ago.”

“You did?”

“I did,” the fox said with a nod. “Next to him we’re probably the most well known officers on the force. If he makes it known that he supports us that means the whole ZPD does as well. That and there are still problems, but all of us, you me, everyone…we’re going in new directions and it’s the best way to tell others that it’s okay to be different. It’s not for everybody, and we don’t want to make people do something that they don’t want to, but just because someone is different, like us, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to be treated unfairly.”

“That…that makes sense,” Judy agreed, her eyes opening for a moment as she thought about it.

“Change is rough,” Nick continued. “If it has to happen, it’s best to have an example that others can follow.” He chuckled. “To be honest, it’s one of the best hustles I can think of.”

That got the bunny’s attention and she pushed herself up on one arm to regard her mate. “What? I’m not sure I follow…”

“Change is coming, good or bad, it’s coming and it can’t be stopped. What Bogo is doing is showing mammals that he’s, one; accepted it already, and two; it’s no big deal. Treat it as something banal and mundane and so will others.” Nick reached up and brushed the backs of his fingers along his wife’s cheek. “If he’s calm about it, and the rest of the department acts the same way, why should the average mammal act differently. After a little while most will wonder what they were so afraid of, especially between pred and prey relationships.”

“Got this all figured out, don’t you, junior detective?” Judy asked with a warm look as she hovered over the fox.

“Of course. Remember, I had a degree in cons and hustles,” he said with a smirk.

Judy threw a leg over her mate, straddling his hips as she leaned in for a kiss, her lower body doing things that the fox found very intriguing to say the least, even after the night they’d just had. “Then tell me, oh wise fox,” she mumbled before nuzzling his throat. “What would you do if you were trapped by a horny bunny that found you completely irresistible?”

Instead of answering verbally, Nick grasped his wife by the waist just at the point where her shapely hips began to flare out before his eyes took on a very assertive gleam. Smiling toothily and nipping the air with an audible CLICK! the fox rolled over and pinned his mate to the bed, her shriek of surprise and delight ringing through the apartment.  
Married life was certainly proving to be an adventure as they both traveled in a new direction together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus endeth 'New Directions', but not the story arc! 
> 
> It's been a fun ride and I hope that no one got to fluff-sick!!!
> 
> And thank you for all the wonderful comments, the kudos, and the feedback! That makes all the difference to us writers! And now, my coffee pot is calling me for a well earned java, and a few moments to gather myself before posting more Nick and Judy antics, a couple of OC's that are waiting for their re-emergence and introductions, and future stories that are churning about in the chaotic space between my ears! ;)
> 
> Be well my friends!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> And the continuation of 'Nothing to Fear'. A bit of an intense start, though from here it gets a little sappy, a little romantic, a little funny. I felt the need to write some fluff and this was what came from that!


End file.
